HANCOCK COUNTY — A critical service in Hancock County is expanding its free mental health resources to reach a population they told WRTV has been struggling in recent years.
Hancock Health’s Mobile Response Team will now begin serving Hoosiers as young as five years old.
The unit housed in the Hancock County Health Connection Center in Greenfield consists of trained clinicians.
They dispatch trained specialists directly to Hoosiers, who may not be able to come to the Connection Center in person, to connect them with services for mental health or substance misuse.
“Our hope is that we can decrease those calls for mental health or substance misuse to law enforcement and provide them with help and care in their own home environment,” said Christina DeWitt, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who manages the Connection Center and the Mobile Response Team.
The unit launched in 2023. Since then, DeWitt told WRTV, they have served more than a thousand adult Hoosiers in crisis.
“Before that, individuals did not know where to go, who to call, or whether they were actually calling 911 or law enforcement,” DeWitt explained.
A study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness indicated that 85% of people who were helped by an MRT member received an intervention rather than a hospitalization.
A mobile crisis team can often save money by reducing hospitalizations and incarcerations for people who are struggling with substance misuse or mental health distress.
Now the team will be able to serve Hoosiers ages five and up.
“We have noted a significant concern and a gap for serving youth,” DeWitt said.
According to a youth risk behavior survey from the CDC, in 2023, nearly 1 in 4 Indiana High school students reported having made a plan to commit suicide.
More than 1 in 6 reported having attempted suicide, a rise from 2022.
“I mean, I could look at my computer screen this morning and see juvenile complaint calls that are all about basically mental health or some type of relational issue that they want cops to go to and frankly, those aren't typically law enforcement matters,” said Fortville Police Officer Phillip Allen who works with the Mobile Response Team.
He told WRTV, cops bring something to the conversation that the Mobile Response Team doesn’t, something he believes can make a big difference, especially for youth.
“We bring a gun to every conversation, and oftentimes those conversations don't need to have that weaponry with us or in that conversation. So having someone who's not law enforcement, that is trained in mental health and being a peer support advocate, is really, really important,” Allen said.
“We support them and care for them without the stigma or concern of repercussions from law enforcement,” added DeWitt. “We want to reduce the risk of suicide, we want to reduce the risk of incarceration, and we want individuals to be able to feel safe.
The team said clinicians will not respond to a scene if it’s unsafe, instead, they will work with law enforcement to connect with Hoosiers after.
With the recent expansion, they will also be able to work with kids in schools.
To make a referral to the Hancock Health Mobile Response Team, call 317-468-4742 or email the team directly at behavioralhealth@hancockhealth.org. Currently, the team operates Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. All phone calls or emails received after hours will be returned on the next business day.
