New teams of social workers and Cincinnati police officers will start working together Monday in a plan to better help mentally ill people.

        Officers Dana Jones and Kelli Finn, who patrol neighborhoods around the University of Cincinnati, will be the first paired with social workers trained in psychiatric emergencies. Although they will respond to critical incidents, too, their goal is to improve the way they handle the day-to-day contact with residents who have mental illnesses.

        “Our officers will be able to learn just from exposure,” said Lt. Col. Richard Janke, acting chief. “You kind of just are at a loss sometimes — what can I do? What should I be saying here?”

        The officers said they have contact nearly every day with mentally ill people, from the homeless who bother people by begging for money to residents who call 911 because they can't take care of themselves. Being neighborhood officers, they know many of those they encounter but don't always know what services might be helpful or how to access them.

        The social workers from University Hospital's Mobile Crisis Team will work weekdays in District 5's headquarters. They'll ride with Officers Jones and Finn as well as follow up on mental health-related calls from other shifts.

        The pilot project will be paid for by the Hamilton County Community Mental Health Board with money generated by a community mental health levy. An exact cost was not available Friday, but board officials said the money used for this idea will not be new, but rather funds that had been paying for children's psychiatric services. Those cases now are handled by another agency.

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