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Cumberland County approves MOU to place mental‑health crisis liaison with sheriff’s deputies
Summary
County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding with Opportunity Alliance to embed a crisis response liaison to co‑respond to mental‑health calls; the county says there will be no direct financial cost and the liaison may bill MaineCare and other insurers.
Cumberland County commissioners voted to authorize a memorandum of understanding with the Opportunity Alliance to place a crisis response liaison who will work alongside the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office on mental‑health related calls.
The measure, presented at a workshop and later moved for formal approval during the regular meeting, aims to reduce repeated law‑enforcement responses to people in crisis by providing a mental‑health professional who can assist with on‑scene de‑escalation, follow‑up referrals and longer‑term case management.
Chief Deputy Eric Pellerin told commissioners the county has seen a sharp increase in mental‑health calls and described several high‑resource incidents in 2023 and 2024 that illustrated the limits of law‑enforcement‑only responses. He said the county has drafted an annually…
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