CARE Crisis Responders were dispatched to assist Seattle Police on Friday as they were in the process of using the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) to detain a man who appeared to be in crisis.
In the late evening of September 19th, a CARE CCR team joined SPD and another local behavioral health team at Swedish Hospital in Ballard.
SPD officers had contacted a man in the ER who appeared to be experiencing significant behavioral health symptoms and had expressed a desire for some place safe to sleep.
Police confirmed the man was listed as a missing and endangered person with previously diagnosed behavioral health issues.
Police contacted the man’s family as CCRs spoke to the man and provided grounding and validating emotional support to build trust.
The man did not wish to return home and appeared to be in need of a higher level of care.
CCRs shared information about a mental health facility in the Seattle area, supporting his needs for both a safe place to sleep and mental health care. SPD was preparing to involuntarily commit the man, but CCRs offered to transport him to a mental health facility if he agreed to go.
The man joined CCRs in the vehicle and had a snack on the ride and was given support to complete the needed paperwork to check in to the facility. CCRs then handed the man off to facility staff and departed.