Middlesex Sheriff Discusses Intervention Methods at Texas Facility

Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian recently traveled to San Antonio, TX, where he met with officials from the Bexar County Restoration Center. First founded nine years ago, the facility has become the gold standard for crisis intervention.

"Bexar County has become a national model for law enforcement Crisis Intervention Training (CIT),
efforts to increase diversion opportunities for those in mental health and substance use crisis, as well as
expanding community capacity to treat individuals in need," Koutoujian said in a statement. "I want to thank
CEO Leon Evans and his tremendous team for the briefing and tour of their facilities. Their roadmap for
success contains many valuable lessons we can learn from here in Massachusetts."

The center was established in 2008 to keep people in crisis out of jails and emergency rooms by offering a variety of treatment services, such as crisis intervention, residential detoxification and programs for those suffering from mental health and substance use disorders.

"Last year, 42 percent of all new admittances to the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction required medical detox and 46 percent reported a history of mental illness," Koutoujian said in a release. "Jails have become our de facto mental health and detox facilities, but Bexar County is proving it does not have to be that way, and I hope to share the information I gathered with colleagues, legislators and partners here in the Commonwealth."

Koutoujian visited the center while in San Antonio for the American Correction Association Conference.

Photo: Sheriff Peter Koutoujian with Bexar County Restoration Center CEO Leon Evans

Photo submitted by Middlesex Sheriff's Office