Medcalf: Bloomington offers hopeful model for reducing police clashes with people in mental distress

For more than a quarter-century, James Ayers met with some of the most vulnerable residents in Minneapolis. As the former director of Walk-In Counseling Center, a free and anonymous counseling center on Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis that is staffed by volunteers, he witnessed the value of accessible mental health services.

“The tendency is to take a policing approach, to correct it without getting into what the hell is going on,” he told me.

It’s also why he and other counselors have praised a Bloomington police pilot program that aims to help residents gain access to counseling services when they call 911 during an emergency. The department has been nationally recognized after hiring two marriage and family therapists to help people address life challenges that may demand a mental health professional rather than a police officer.

“The whole idea is that people generally don’t deal with mental health issues until there is blood on the floor,” Ayers said. “And you can get ahead of the game by providing services as soon as possible when people are asking for it. The whole rationale for a walk-in counseling center is that you’ve gotta make it easy for people to talk. And that’s done by privacy, professionalism, timeliness. What’s going on in Bloomington is a good start.”

When I was a child, a relative of mine endured a mental health crisis outside our church. I was too young to understand the totality of mental health then, but I remember the moment when police arrived. One by one, they surrounded him. I was afraid. He wasn’t harmed but the possibility seemed real.

Every police department — and many have partnered with mental health organizations in recent years — should employ resources to address individuals facing mental health crises, as those situations can quickly deteriorate. Counselors and therapists, Bloomington’s program has shown, may help residents find solutions and avoid those encounters with police. They may also help families and individuals process their collective challenges before they matriculate and lead to violence and damage in their homes and communities.

The complexities and problems in policing here and elsewhere are well-documented. The model in Bloomington is one that could work throughout the Twin Cities, but only if patients’ privacy is protected and not improperly used by police. There is value in independent counseling services, but those services are not always attainable for those who need them most.

In Bloomington, more than 4,000 people are uninsured, according to the department, and the service gives those people access to therapists whom they might not see otherwise because of that barrier. To many, 911 is the universal number to call when there is a serious situation they can’t resolve on their own. That’s a habit we’ve all developed over time. Yet, a call to that number should not always start with a police response. If anything, the presence of counselors allows for nuance and patience in these scenarios, says the Minnesota Counseling Association, the local chapter of the American Counseling Association.

“It is the Minnesota Counseling Association’s stance that first responders that work in crisis (police, firefighters, EMT) would benefit to have access to counselors to consult with on mental health issues,” the group said in a statement. “These types of roles increase the dignity of treatment of civilians that struggle with their mental health and also increase safety of both the civilians and the first responders. We believe that providing access to mental health services is beneficial for all involved.”

I’m fortunate to have employment benefits that provide therapy services but even that does not guarantee access. The counseling community has been overwhelmed since the pandemic, which means the process of finding the right therapist and an available therapist has never been more difficult. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, nearly 40% of therapists reported that they had wait times in 2022.

I don’t believe therapy solves everything but it is a process that can help folks understand what they need to fix and the support they need to get there.

There is an opportunity to point more people toward mental health services with more programs such as the one in Bloomington. Because, Ayers said, the people desperate for those resources deserve to be heard. And helped.

“The need for people to be connected and to have life-giving relationships and community is really key,” Ayers said. “I think of mental illness as basically being in pain, literally any kind of pain, but without a voice.”