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~.z::i <br />covered by public assistance programs and the <br />privately insured. The program serves individuals with <br />low-to-moderate incomes who are ordinarily mentally <br />healthy but have experienced a stressful event or <br />circumstance, and who lack the funds for obtaining <br />the needed therapy. To date, 45 matches have been <br />made between individuals in need of help and <br />volunteer therapists, 25 of whom were in Orange <br />County. <br />Finally, implementation of Crisis Intervention Team <br />(CIT) training is underway. A coalition of agencies <br />(OPC Area Program, National Alliance on Mental <br />Illness, MHA-OC, Chapel Hill Police Department, <br />UNC Chapel Hill Public Safety and Freedom House <br />Recovery Center) will bring the first area CIT class to <br />Orange County in Hillsborough during January 2010. <br />This training represents a formalized partnership <br />between MH/DD/SA service agencies, advocates and <br />law enforcement. <br />CIT is apre-booking jail diversion program designed <br />to improve the outcomes of police interactions with <br />people with mental illness. The program provides 40- <br />hours of specialized training to sworn law enforcement <br />officers in order to decrease incidents of incarceration <br />of persons with mental illness for misdemeanor <br />charges. It also connects persons in mental health <br />crisis to appropriate services rather than the criminal <br />justice system; decreases officer injury rates; <br />decreases use of force occurrences; decreases <br />consumer injury rates; and creates an earlier <br />opportunity to engage consumers in mental health <br />services. <br />Transportation <br />For many residents in northern Orange County, <br />including children/students, older adults, persons <br />living with disabilities, and those who do not have <br />access to a personal vehicle, the lack of <br />transportation continues to be a barrier to accessing <br />medical, recreational, and social services. <br />However, there has been some notable progress <br />over the past year. Orange Public Transportation <br />coordinated with Triangle Transit and Chapel Hill <br />Transit to provide a new service to the 420 route <br />(Hillsborough to Chapel Hill public route). The <br />changes allowed Chapel Hill Transit to provide peak <br />hour service on this route with larger capacity buses <br />that can serve more riders. <br />Orange Public Transportation and Chapel Hill Transit <br />have held public forums to gather information on a <br />possible Chapel Hill/Carrboro in-town shuttle. Using <br />New Freedom grant funds, a route may be developed <br />that would allow seniors to be picked up at specific <br />locations and taken to desired drop points. <br />In addition, using Congestion Mitigation and Air <br />Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program grant funds, <br />the Orange Public Transportation and the town of <br />Hillsborough are developing a public route for <br />Hillsborough. This would be a fixed route that would <br />allow connection to the 420 route and desired <br />locations within Hillsborough, and would connect to <br />an existing park/ride lot. <br />Although there is no formal HCOC committee <br />working on transportation needs in Orange County, <br />the Advocates for Adolescents Committee's long <br />term goal is to improve transportation for residents, <br />particularly for students in the northern part of the <br />county. <br />13 <br />