LoginCrossing the Lines: Highland Park addresses mental health calls with co-response team, works towards autism awareness
Sherry Miller is a mental health clinician with the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. She has a dual role in Highland Park as part of the co-response team and the mobile clinic.
“We go out into the community, to schools, to churches, events, wherever we are invited to bring mental health awareness to kind of decrease the stigma. We can do brief therapy right there on the spot, assess individuals’ mood… and get them connected with services,” she says.
In her role with co-response, she works with the police department as a mental health counselor who aids in mental health emergencies.
“So if there’s a mental health call… they’ll dispatch me through the radio. Either I’ll meet them there, [or] I’ll follow them there and kind of assess the situation and what’s going on with that individual,” she explains.
She says Highland Park residents were instrumental in getting a partnership going between DWIHN and crisis intervention.
Miller says since her start in late December, there have been about 70 mental health phone calls. In her role, Miller assesses the situation and tries to de-escalate.
She says there are several police officers within the Highland Park Police Department who are also trained to respond to mental health calls.
“It may go a different route, versus somebody being talked to by somebody that’s trained to de-escalate, to calm them down… I think that makes a difference,” she shares.
Miller says she attends city meetings to connect with community members to understand their needs, bring them resources and show them how to sign up for services.
Autism Awareness comes to Highland Park
Last month, Sherry Miller organized the city’s first Autism Awareness & Acceptance event.
Miller says she speaks with parents who are concerned about getting help for their kids. They struggle with things like behavioral issues, receiving special education services at school and understanding autism.
Miller says more needs to be done to support parents. Having more advocacy events could help parents get access to testing and find new ways to improve the lives of their children, she says.
The event featured an advocacy walk, resource vendors, and presentations. There were also giveaways, music and workshops. Miller noted the importance of the event for connecting with parents and “talking to the educators that kind of know what to do, what to look for.”
Miller has also created a resource book for residents.
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