Police in a northwest Pennsylvania town responded about six years ago to a disturbance at a mental health center.
The officers confronted an upset client. When he became combative, he was cuffed and spent five years in prison, said Audrey Smith, a psychologist in Meadville, Crawford County.
Not long ago, the man returned to the center and became agitated.
Back came the police.
But this time, officers took a gentler approach.
“They let the guy have a smoke,” Smith said, “and got him to an inpatient facility.”
The officers’ patience illustrates what Smith and other behavioral health experts call a trauma-informed response. The practice, championed by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is finding support across the country and in Lancaster County.
[For more of this story, written by Jeff Hawkes, go to http://lancasteronline.com/new...08-8f12e2682c1f.html]
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