If medical providers determine a patient is a danger to themselves or others, they can petition a judge for an involuntary commitment order. When an order is issued, police officers arrive at the emergency department to drive the patient to an inpatient psychiatric facility. Usually, patients are handcuffed in a patrol car or an inmate transfer van. The practice can be traumatizing for patients, and sheriffs say patient transfers strain their resources.
Involuntary commitment petitions increased 97% between 2011 and 2021, according to data collected by the news outlet. A survey of police stations found that law enforcement agencies spent $918 million nationwide transporting committed patients and used an estimated 165,295 hours, or 21% of staff time, responding to and transporting mental health patients.
In December, the state’s health department released a request for proposals to qualified transportation vendors with a plan to operate a mental health pilot in two regions. The pilot is funded by $20 million from the state behavioral health budget.
“We’re not just going to award it to whoever comes forward,” former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley told North Carolina Health News. “Part of the reason why we have been moving slower on this than I would have liked is because we haven’t been able to find a perfect prototype in the nation. I have not seen another state really figure this out perfectly yet. There are some contractor companies that are doing this in a way that looks a little too law enforcement-adjacent to me.”
