ACSO awarded mental health transportation grant
The Anderson County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded the state’s Office of Criminal Justice Program’s Mental Health Transportation Grant of $153,000 for the second year in a row.
The grant does not require a county match and will solely be used by the Sheriff’s Office.
Under state law, the Sheriff’s Office is required to transport mental health patients to facilities across the state once they are evaluated and committed by a physician at Methodist Medical Center.
After receiving the grant last year, the Sheriff’s Office contracted with Amerimed, an authorized subcontractor, for mental health transports.
“Our office has not slowed down with mental health transports,” Sheriff Russell Barker said. “There were days we were transporting 7-9 patients from Knoxville to Memphis. As you can imagine, this placed a heavy burden on our deputies.”
Since early 2021, Amerimed has taken that burden off the patrol deputies.
“Obtaining this funding for a second year is huge for our men and women,” Barker said.
He said he was excited to get this news and praised the efforts of Director of Administrative Services Tyler Mayes.
“Tyler did a tremendous job showing the state Anderson County’s need for this funding,” he said. “This not only helps our department but it also eases the burden for our taxpayers.” Barker concluded.