On Wednesdays, members of Flathead County’s Crisis Assistance Team walk into the jail to meet with inmates facing mental health issues.  

From referring people to care to discussing medications or just listening to someone's story, the team works one-on-one with individuals to point them in the best direction, which for someone experiencing a mental health crisis, often isn’t within the walls of a jail. 

“They’re making a difference,” Flathead County Jail Commander Jenny Root said. “We have very limited resources for our mental health inmates ... trying to help them when they’re here and trying to prevent them coming here in the first place is a huge deal and the [Crisis Assistance] Team has really worked on that.” 

Mental health resources have dwindled across the county in recent years, with law enforcement agencies often serving as a stopgap. As a result, there is a disproportionate amount of people facing a mental illness crisis in the criminal justice system.  

Many inmates facing mental health issues wait extended periods of time for a bed at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, she said. In the interim, they’re subject to a system not designed to deal with mental health crises. 

That’s where the Crisis Assistance Team comes in, filling a gap that previously was left for emergency services.  

The program launched in August 2020 with the goal of decreasing the frequency and intensity of 911 behavioral health calls by linking people to mental health services. The Flathead City-County Health Department officially took over the mobile crisis response team last year, sparking a period of substantial growth.  

The effort began as a partnership between the Kalispell Police Department and the Western Montana Mental Health Center with one responder.  

“In this world, we understand that crisis is identified by the individual. It's not prescribed, it's not diagnosed upon people,” said James Pyke, the county’s behavioral health supervisor and the crisis team program lead. “[We want people to know] that there is somebody here in the county to meet you where you’re at.” 

With a background in emergency medical response, Pyke ventured into the world of mental health while getting his master's in health care administration, writing his thesis on mobile response units. He began spearheading Flathead Valley’s response team in October with the goal of expanding service.  

By December, Pyke and his team had expanded the service to operate seven days a week for the first time since its inception, more than doubling its response across the community.  

The crisis response model is used across the country in various forms. Flathead County’s program consists of two teams, each with one licensed therapist and a care coordinator. From 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the team is on call to respond to a slate of needs, from assisting law enforcement to responding independently.  

Previously, law enforcement personnel with limited training was expected to cover mental health issues, said Patrol Capt. Chad Fetveit of the Kalispell Police Department. He described the county team as a force multiplier, leaving the police to service calls that have a criminal or public safety aspect to them.  

“They just enable law enforcement to focus more on law enforcement without letting the mental health concerns of our citizens fall through the cracks,” he said. “We’re in the business of solving problems here and without the [Crisis Assistance] Team I think that would make it a lot more difficult." 

The team is a part of the family, he said, as there isn’t a day that goes by where they don’t work with them. 

“We serve such a wide range of clients,” Pyke said. “When you look at the services we refer to, it’s everything from housing services to food assistance to outpatient therapy, to inpatient services, substance use services ... it's actually really impressive what those two care coordinators know about the service offerings in this community." 

Mental health crises are often seen among people struggling with housing insecurity and homelessness, said Sean Patrick O’Neill, resource manager at the Flathead Warming Center. Often the crisis falls short of requiring law enforcement, but prior to the crisis assistance program there was no one else to call, he said.  

“We’ve seen an exponential decrease in our usage of 911. And that was the impact of [the Crisis Assistance Team],” O’Neill said.  

Rather than hauling people to jail, the team can take clients to a shelter, a doctor, or a family member’s home. They also follow up with each client within 14 days of the incident to talk about care plans and prevent another crisis. 

The team does not charge individuals for the services they offer, Pyke said. The program is partially funded through a state grant to support behavioral health initiatives as well as through partnerships between Flathead County and the city of Kalispell using National Opioid Settlement Agreement Funds. The program can also bill Medicaid for client services. 

The program is expanding on a monthly basis. In December, when the program began operating seven days a week, teams spent 40 hours on scene, 63% of those hours without the need for a law enforcement presence.  

In April, the teams spent 72 hours on scene, 66% of those hours without law enforcement personnel. Client interactions, time on scene and in person responses continue to increase month after month.  

While more calls related to mental health do come from an increased population, the statistics do not mean that there is a spike in mental health calls in the community, Pyke said. Rather, it means that more of the mental health calls fall onto the team rather than law enforcement or hospital emergency rooms.  

“As we grow the program, we are growing to meet the needs of the community,” Pyke said. “It’s not just that more people are calling with mental health emergencies... [it's just that] more of those calls for mental health got a licensed therapist on scene. And that's a huge benefit.”  

Callers can request the team, or the team is dispatched to a call based on the need. As the program continues to grow, Pyke, Fetveit, O’Neill and Root agree that it would be great to see the program expand its hours.  

“I can’t imagine policing without them now that we’ve had them,” Fetveit said. 

Co-responders are dispatched through 911 or 988 calls and provide community-based crisis assessments at various locations.  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected]. 

    The Flathead City-County Health Department on Tuesday, June 10. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider