Members of the Walton Justice Mental Health Task Force briefed the Board of Commissioners on the group's work, saying the effort has improved coordination among hospitals, law enforcement and community providers and launched a pilot program with Loganville and Monroe police departments.

DeeDee Harris (presenter) told the board the task force is now seen as a model across the state and distributed a one‑page highlights report summarizing monthly law‑enforcement contacts and pilot activity. The report notes a pilot launched about a year earlier with Loganville Police Department and Monroe Police Department; participants said they hope to add the Walton County Sheriff’s Office to the pilot.

Heather Allison, community relations director at Piedmont Walton Hospital, said the task force helped the hospital establish direct referral routes and a memorandum of understanding with Walton Empowers, a local nonprofit. Allison described a newly adapted resource tool called “Empowering You,” part of the national FindHelp platform rebranded for Piedmont, which the hospital would like the county to help promote so residents and hospital patients can quickly find local low‑ or no‑cost behavioral‑health resources.

Major McClung, operations commander for the City of Monroe Police Department, described the co‑responder model used during the pilot and credited Advantage Behavioral Health in Athens with providing a facility and intake options that reduced law‑enforcement transports to jails and emergency departments. McClung said the pilot has reduced behavioral‑health related ER admissions for law‑enforcement encounters by more than half, and that the Monroe Police Department participates in a DBHDD grant that placed a co‑responder with patrol supervisors one day per week to provide resources, referrals and trauma support for officers.

Speakers asked the board to support continued expansion of the pilot and to help bring the sheriff’s office into the co‑responder program. The task force presenters emphasized communication improvements among agencies and the value of having a local peer‑support and referral network for people in crisis.

Ending: Task force members provided a short report and asked commissioners for continued support to expand the pilot and integrate the sheriff’s office; they left the board with a printed highlights summary.