Social services instead of handcuffs: Delaware County wants intervention, not incarceration, for people struggling with mental health issues

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The Delaware County Department of Human Services wants to jumpstart a county-wide program to divert people with mental health issues away from the legal system and into treatment.

The program would give police officers the discretion to refer people with behavioral conditions to a case manager in lieu of arrest.

At Wednesday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, Delaware County Council permitted DHS to request proposals for a provider who can get started as early as December 2024.

“The goal of the program is to connect individuals to treatment and to keep them out of the criminal justice system as much as possible — and to make sure that we have the support and process in place to do that,” Councilmember Dr. Monica Taylor told WHYY News.

Upper Darby and Haverford police departments are already piloting a program that dispatches mental health professionals alongside officers during behavioral health emergencies.

The county-led mobile crisis unit has been going on for about a year.

Delco’s newest proposal is somewhat of an expansion of the work that is already happening at the township level. But it’s different.

“This would be for the entire county,” Human Services Director Sandra Garrison said at Wednesday’s meeting. “This would be for individuals with low-level offenses to divert them from the criminal justice system.”

The people would not necessarily need to be actively experiencing a mental health crisis to be eligible for a referral to a certified recovery or peer specialist.

Garrison said they are looking to model the program off a similar initiative in Philadelphia. University of Pennsylvania researchers found promise in the endeavor but raised questions about its effectiveness when there’s a lack of investment in adequate support services.