Yesterday, April 26, 2022, a small crowd gathered at the former Jehovah’s Witness Church on Redwood Valley East Road for the grand opening of Mendocino County’s Behavioral Health Regional Training Center, a facility dedicated to educating local first responders, law enforcement, mental health professionals with the skills necessary to address the mental health needs of our community.
Mendocino County’s Behavioral Health Director Jenine Miller, former Sheriff Tom Allman, and recently retired CEO Carmel Angelo spoke to the small crowd about the County’s plans for the facility and the important role it will serve.
Sheriff Tom Allman told us that this facility is “something to be proud of.” Mendocino County is the “only county in the state that has a training center specifically for behavioral health” and a tax specifically dedicated to “improving our mental health services.”
Sheriff Allman’s remarks took the microphone and explained that the majority of mental health crises occur in the middle of the night, and the first responders on that shift are often very junior recent police academy grads, inexperienced in responding to mental health calls.
The Behavioral Health Regional Training Center will host training for local first responders in the State of California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training.
The center is equipped with virtual training modules, Allman said, where trainees will experience different types of simulated crises and then follow up with a debriefing to analyze their performance.
Sheriff Allman provided a vivid example of the type of scenario that can be trained for in the new facility. He described a first responder arriving on a call in the dark, unable t tell if a person was holding a knife, a gun, or something benign, like a spoon. The trainees will drill on different scenarios such as this, and take this experience out into real-life situations.
Allman said he is a cheerleader for law enforcement mental health training and that mental health crises affect both the wealthy and the poor. So far $27 million dollars has been raised by the Measure B tax.
It is anticipated that in addition to law enforcement, firefighters and other county employees will be trained in the center.
Dr. Miller opened the event with an overview of the building’s extensive remodeling turning a church into a first responder training center. There is a large central room for group training classes, a kitchen, bathrooms and storage areas. IT equipment has also been added to run the training classes and presentations.
Former County CEO Carmel Angelo expressed hope that the center would become a regional training hub, available for neighboring counties to rent for their first responder training.
It was also announced that the Crisis Residential Treatment Facility on Orchard Avenue, partially funded with Measure B funds, is now open for business and that three mobile crisis vans have been funded, with two full-time positions filled, and recruitment in progress for a third position.
As described on Ballotpedia.org, Measure B was approved by Mendocino County voters in 2017 raising the local sales tax to fund “construction of psychiatric and behavioral health facilities, operation costs, and services to treat mental illness and addiction.”
This was a big deal for Tom Allman. I glad it happened for him. I wish the article made a bigger deal out of the opening of the Crisis Residential Treatment Facility. Both are needed, good job Mendocino!
Amazing
It is of vital importance to our community that the first responders are trained in responding to those younger than 18 years