INDIANAPOLIS — The State of Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction recently awarded the city of Indianapolis a nearly $1.3 million grant to expand the Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams (MCAT) program, increase hours of service to the community, and ensure better continuity of care for individuals suffering from substance use disorders. The teams, comprised of an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officer and an Eskenazi Health Midtown Mental Health clinician, were created to provide a coordinated response to crises with an aim to improve treatment outcomes, assist individuals in making informed choices and returning to a healthy equilibrium, and ultimately break the cycle of incarceration by providing connections to social services and treatment.
The funding will help expand the services provided by the teams, adding care coordinators to focus on treatment continuity and peer recovery coaches to improve outcomes for individuals facing substance use disorder. The grant will also allow for an expansion of existing program hours. The new components of the program will support residents in all six IMPD districts.
MCAT launched as a pilot in 2017 in response to the limited tools traditionally available to law enforcement to aid non-violent individuals experiencing crises. Since their launch, 96 percent of interactions with the MCAT teams have resulted in no arrest. The success of these teams is further demonstrated by a 67 percent increase in referrals to the MCAT program rather than to immediate detention or police custody.