The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office recently sponsored a countywide ride-along event between Blueprints for Addiction Recovery and participating local police departments aimed at assisting individuals in need of mental health and substance abuse services. The initiative resulted in 29 connections made with individuals who have substance use disorder or mental health concerns and 18 connections to appropriate treatment services.

Counselors, case managers, certified recovery specialists, and certified peer specialists from Blueprints volunteered their time to ride along with police officers on their shifts. In addition, stationary certified recovery specialists and certified peer specialists were on call to take over cases that required more than the average amount of time, so the roving team did not need to stay off the street for longer than necessary.

Blueprints began the county ride-along program last September. It developed a weekly regimen with Lancaster City Bureau of Police and schedules with other departments based on specific needs. Referrals were made in 13 cases in Lancaster city in the first month of ride-alongs. The twice-weekly ride-alongs with Lancaster City Police are up to 184 contacts with individuals and a treatment services connection rate of 54% since the program's inception.

The ride-alongs build on the partnership between law enforcement and Blueprints' Second Chance PA program, which allows officers to call Blueprints staff to incidents involving mental health and substance use. The responding staff members then assess the case and can make referrals to the appropriate treatment, rather than law enforcement charging individuals with crimes.

The police departments that agreed to participate in the recent ride-alongs include Columbia Borough, East Cocalico Township, East Lampeter Township, Lancaster City Bureau of Police, Lititz Borough, Manheim Township, Millersville University, Northwest Regional, Pequea Township, and West Lampeter Township.

Blueprints for Addiction Recovery operates treatment facilities throughout Lancaster and York counties. To learn more, visit http://www.blueprintsrecovery.com.