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In an effort to address concerns about mental health, addiction and homelessness in the community, Methuen has convened a monthly mental health task force with representation from across municipal departments to collaborate on addressing the issues.
“Rolled up in the issue of mental health is addiction, is homelessness,” said Mayor Neil Perry. “And we started looking at various ways to combat it to make sure that a., each department knew what other departments were doing, b., we were maximizing our approach to obtaining grants, and that c., the first year and each year after we have a plan for our opioid settlement money.
“Even though it is a 20-plus person team, there has been great cohesion and great focus on direction,” he added.
Perry said that convening the group, which kicked off over the summer, has allowed departments to learn from each other.
“Being able to share all this between all these departments, and other departments being able to use these ideas, I think has been the biggest positive by bringing everyone together at the same table,” said City Councillor and task force member Joel Faretra.
Perry said a proposal to the City Council for how to use the first $380,000 in opioid settlement funds includes expanding access to Care Solace, a mental health coordination service used in the school system, to anyone in the city, as well as funding for two patrol officers, two EMTs, and increased education and messaging in the community.
Following the suicides of two teenagers last year, Faretra said struggling populations like students, veterans and seniors also need support, and the task force is looking to provide a social worker to support the senior population as well as clinicians to be available for first responders.
The task force is also requesting increased access to Narcan, additional support for the Health and Human Services Department, and for treatment and recovery efforts.
Perry noted that by the end of November, overdoses in 2023 had already exceeded data for 2020, 2021 or 2022.
He said the city is expecting an additional $68,000 in opioid settlement funds in fiscal 2025, with additional funding through fiscal 2039. Faretra said the task force has proposed seeking additional funding through the local meals tax.
Police Chief Scott McNamara said about a quarter of calls to the department “have a connection to mental health issues, and these are calls that we’re going to over and over.”
“We immediately understood we needed to get mental health clinicians embedded into the department,” he said.
The Police Department has partnered with Front Line, a behavioral health company that works with numerous municipal police departments in the state, to pursue and facilitate the use of two grants as a part of the citywide effort to address mental health concerns.
The first is a $550,000 Justice Mental Health Collaborative Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance provided over three years. The grant will support the partnership between the Police Department and Front Line and the creation of a secondary co-response team and community support center. The secondary team will consist of a clinician and peer support specialist who can respond to a scene when requested by an officer. The responders will conduct an initial assessment and develop a care plan, including connection or transfer to additional services.
Methuen Crime Analysis Director Dawn Reeby said Front Line will connect with a number of departments and stakeholders and draft a report to provide a citywide view of resources that exist and where there are gaps. The support center is expected to be operational in the fall of 2024.
“We can deal with the crisis with the help of the clinician, but there is a window of time that is critical,” McNamara said. “With this money we can provide services until they are in the hands of a provider.”
The second grant, $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, will fund a clinical co-response clinician to respond to mental health events alongside officers who are trained in Crisis Intervention Team techniques, creating a primary co-response team. The grant will also provide access to Front Line outpatient services and after-hours clinical tele-services.
“The importance of the task force going forward is taking a look at what we are doing, measuring … what’s the result,” Perry said. “Is it having a positive impact? And if it’s not in certain areas, how do we take a look at those areas and adjust. Waiting is not helping anybody.”