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One woman was suffering from anxiety. After talking to her, Amistadi
discovered the woman had a chronic health problem that involved numerous
doctor appointments. Her anxiety was coming from trying to find and pay for
transportation to those appointments. Amistadi, who uses resources from her
main job as well as the occasional Google search, helped the woman consider
her options and navigate her insurance.
“Mental health doesn’t live in a bubble. It’s all very much interconnected,”
she says.
Some of Amistadi’s interactions with Shaker residents are in person – if it’s a
911 call, police or medics must be present – but more often it’s over the phone.
Many are eager to talk to her; some turn her away. That doesn’t stop Amistadi.
“I have to find that window of when I can get in there and when they’re
going to trust me.” she says. “It just takes a while. I guess it could never
happen, but I’m at least going to try to make a difference.”
Once MetroHealth finds the right person to succeed her – a tight job
market has made hiring slow – Amistadi will be ready to guide that social
worker with a whole new breadth of knowledge.
“Over the past few months I’ve learned so much,” Amistadi says. “When I
went to school there was no class on how to do this, or what it would look like,
or how to work with EMS on the scene. As mental health professionals, we’re
always looking at ways to do things differently and to do them better.”
While DeMuth and Sweeney sing Amistadi’s praises, both look forward to
having a full-time mental health professional onsite. Already they’ve seen the
benefits to officers and firefighters, who regularly pick Amistadi’s brain about the
cases they’ve seen. But at the same time, they acknowledge that a social worker
is only part of the solution.
Training is also part of it. Both chiefs have set goals to have all Shaker
officers and firefighters take a 40-hour crisis intervention team training
through the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board of
Cuyahoga County. Learning from experience is another part. Sweeney has
hired an outside firm to create a database that tracks information on calls and
follow-ups, allowing them to see who
has needed assistance and what has
worked – or not worked – in the past.
DeMuth and Sweeney also
hope for more opportunities with
neighboring communities and
partners, such as having social
workers based at the regional 911
dispatch center to help determine
the response needed. Or having
mental health professionals available
virtually around the clock for their
rescue squads.
“We know that we can’t have
a social worker physically in a
police car or in an ambulance 24/7,”
Sweeney says.
Still, the pilot is making an impact.
English recently got to experience it
first-hand. A week after Shaker police
helped transfer her son to a hospital
for the mentally ill, English received a
check-in call from Amistadi.
“That was nice to know that the
work we did on the committee has
had an immediate impact and a team
is in place,” English says. Although
she didn’t need Amistadi’s help this
time, “it’s nice to know it’s there and
she’s reaching out to people.” SL
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