PERRYVILLE – The Perry County Sheriff’s Office recently joined the Community Counseling Center Foundation in support of Mental Health Awareness Month during May, displaying a yard sign which reads, “It’s Okay to NOT be Okay.”
The Sheriff’s Office will continue to support mental health awareness by promoting the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (www.988lifeline.org) displayed on the rear of our new patrol cars. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline transitioned to a call or text 9-8-8 option on July 16th, 2022, as a free and confidential service staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week for anyone experiencing suicidal, substance use and other mental health crisis.
A majority of the Perry County Sheriff’s Office personnel has received the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training (www.MissouriCIT.org) to help identify and refer individuals who may be experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
Sheriff Jason Klaus said, “This has been a priority of our office for several years. To train all our staff in properly identifying a person who may be in crisis, utilizing verbal de-escalation skills and having knowledge of appropriate community resources to assist that individual.
By partnering with the Community Counseling Center, Gibson Center for Behavioral Change, Perry County Memorial Hospital, and other community services, we can develop relationships which will best serve those in need”.
The Sheriff believes by promoting services like 9-8-8, this will provide individuals with another option when experiencing a crisis, instead of calling 9-1-1 or other emergency services. “We are here to serve our community, whatever the call, but sometimes finding the right service, at the right time, may not always be law enforcement,” according to Sheriff Klaus.
The Sheriff’s Office will continue to promote 9-8-8 on their new patrol cars and work with community services to best serve our citizens when in crisis.