Hack the Beach 2017 Contest Sign-up
Aug 21, 2017
submission
#46
Submit your idea
Your idea/ technology/ company
| Name of your idea or project | Project Minder |
| Which challenge area does your idea respond to? | A Responsive Government, Health |
| Describe your idea and how it can help Santa Monica | People experiencing mental health crisis are often sent to jail instead of treatment because of a lack of awareness regarding the availability of crisis mental health beds. We know that jail is the WRONG place for people with severe mental illness. We also know that connecting people in crisis to the mental health treatment they need is often done through informal networks of law enforcement, first responders, and mental health professionals; if people in those networks indicate that there are no beds available, then the person in crisis is not put into treatment and they are often arrested and sent to jail. If we were able to formalize those networks and provide information to first responders in real-time where crisis mental health beds are and available, we would drastically decrease the persistence of mental health crises in jail while dramatically improving justice outcomes for people with severe mental health issues that touch the justice system. We envision a lightweight app on a police officer's phone that provides real-time information on a map regarding where available crisis mental health beds are, thereby reducing reliance on informal and ineffective networks and increasing the ability to direct people in crisis to the treatment they need. |
| What stage is your idea or project in? | Idea stage |
| What needs to happen to launch your product? Please list all resources (hardware, software, licensing, legal/regulatory, funding, partnership or support from the City, data, etc.) required to launch your program. | We have been in touch with a development team around this idea for about a year, although we are still seeking funding to build an MVP with which to test the idea out. In order to structure the back end of the app, we'd need to get buy-in from local hospitals to get access to data related to the availability of crisis mental health beds (5150 beds). Meanwhile, we'd need to lobby SMPD to begin using the prototype and provide user feedback. |
| How realistic is it for your idea to be implemented by early 2018? Please describe what resources (if any) you will need in order to ensure a working product by early next year. | It's realistic to assume that we could onboard several hospitals to provide data regarding their 5150 beds and create a MVP to test among SMPD patrol officers. It would cost about $5,000 to develop a working prototype. We'd just need to do the legwork among hospitals and the SMPD to enable the prototype and gain valuable feedback regarding its use. |
You and your team
| Team Name | Restorative Justice Fund |
| List team members and their roles | --- |
| Contact email | --- |
| Phone number | --- |
| Primary Contact Name | --- |
Initial application scoring
Scoring
| Viability (40%) | --- |
| Value (40%) | --- |
| Growth (20%) | --- |
| Notes | --- |
| Advance to semi-finalist status? | Yes |