Orange County NC Website
27 <br /> POTENTIAL BENEFITS: LAW ENFORCEMENT AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL. <br /> Reduced Burden on LE and Emergency Medical Services. Facility will operate with a no wrong door approach; that is, it will be a default, no <br /> refusal intake option for law enforcement. LE and EMS stakeholders will be able to collaborate with clinicians to deliver services without <br /> restrictive entry or exclusion criteria thus transitioning individuals to crisis care in lieu of ED or Jail. This approach answers question of <br /> Divert to Where?. <br /> • Cost Savings. EMS and LE personnel responding to calls involving a BH crisis will spend less time in the field determining an appropriate <br /> response and less time at the Facility (less than 15-minutes) compared to either the ED or magistrate/jail. Such an approach will free up <br /> personnel and equipment to respond to other community needs. <br /> Supports Public Safety Reforms. Aligns with Governor's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (December 2020) by establishing a <br /> dedicated Facility that provides a resource for Orange County to support implementation of key recommendations of the Task Force. As <br /> noted above providing a No Wrong Door answers the question of Divert to Where? thus supporting the following Task Force <br /> recommendations: <br /> Task Force Recommendation: Reimagine public safety and reinvest in communities. <br /> Solution #1 : Respond more appropriately to situations concerning mental illness, autism, intellectual disabilities, substance abuse, <br /> homelessness, and other nonemergency situations. <br /> Task Force Recommendation: Promote diversion and other alternatives to arrest. <br /> Solution #16: Establish and expand access to diversion programs. <br /> Solution #17: Treat addiction as a public health crisis, including substance use addictions that disproportionately impact black and <br /> brown communities, such as crack cocaine. <br /> 25 <br />