Youngkin Celebrates Launch of Pilot Program Meant to Aid Mental Health Crises

Valley Health in Winchester is piloting a program that can test the effectiveness of a new avenue in Virginia’s mental health resources landscape.

Special Conservators of the Peace are armed and unarmed professional personnel authorized by courts to carry out limited law enforcement duties. The idea is that they can take the place of law enforcement officers to accompany people in mental health crises to hospitals. Having launched mid-August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin celebrated the new program on Wednesday.

Sometimes, in mental health crises where a person is at a high risk of harming themselves or others, law enforcement is ordered to step in. Patients are escorted to hospitals for evaluations, but this takes time, and in some cases, the presence of law enforcement officers can further agitate someone in a vulnerable mental state. This is where Virginia’s new SCOPs program comes in.

The pilot is a piece of Youngkin’s Right Help, Right Now initiative, as SCOPs are part of the puzzle of responding to mental health issues in Virginia.

“We are ensuring patients in crisis receive compassionate care in the right environment while working side-by-side with law enforcement to keep our communities safe,” Youngkin said in a statement. “Valley Health is demonstrating the impact of this model, and together we are building a stronger, more responsive system for the Commonwealth.”

Between Youngkin’s plan and numerous legislation by lawmakers predating his tenure as governor, Virginia has been able to create mobile crisis units of trained clinicians that can respond alongside or instead of law enforcement, roll out a substance abuse online resource hub, and support the 988 crisis hotline. Virginia’s Behavioral Health Commission also routinely meets to study and make recommendations for improving programs.

For the SCOP proposal, Youngkin teased the idea last December when presenting his budget plans for 2025. The goal then had been to invest $35 million of the state budget into that workforce. Though resources like 988 and mobile crisis units can prevent someone from needing to go to a hospital, Youngkin believes the conservators can help improve outcomes of people who are taken to hospitals by law enforcement.

Often, it’s law enforcement officers who are the first responders, and they escort people to get medical care rather than putting them in jail. Other times, people might be subject to emergency custody orders — when a magistrate deems someone could be a harm to themselves or others and need to be evaluated by health professionals.

Youngkin said in a release that “consensus has been building that officers and deputies aren’t always the best people to take point or remain with people in crisis for long periods of time. Smaller police departments in rural areas have also argued these duties take officers out of traditional patrols or away from other emergencies they could be responding to instead.”

“Not only should there be less police interactions with someone who’s going through a crisis, but when you’re looking at rural areas such as the county where I’m from and small police departments throughout the region, then taking just one person off patrol can hurt a community,” Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt said at an event late last year.

The concept will be further tested through the new program at Valley Health. Since its launch on Aug. 19, Valley Health SCOPs have already supported 10 people. A press release about the program estimated that over 97 hours of law enforcement officer time were saved by having SCOPs step in. The program is expected to reach 24/7 operation by the end of this year.

A $1.1 million dollar contract with the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services is supporting the program. Overall, it can fund up to 18 full-time SCOPs, two special transport vehicles, and additional drivers.

State officials are optimistic about the idea.

DBHDS Commissioner Nelson Smith said that the program “allows (officers) to get back to their community and provides a more therapeutic experience in our crisis system.”

by Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury

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