Linda Gomez is helping raise three great-grandchildren with autism.

On both a personal and professional level, Gomez knows those who suffer from mental health issues face different challenges than most kids their age.

It’s why Gomez is also on the board of directors for Bebo's Angels, a non-profit in the Rio Grande Valley that supports families with autism.

“We want our child to be safe,” Gomez said, adding that her great-grandchildren have had experiences in school that have scared her.

Situations like those are why Edinburg Police Department is creating a mental health crisis response unit.

Three officers will get mental health certifications, and each will have backup in the form of a professional from Tropical Texas Behavioral Health.

Each Tropical professional will go out with those trained officers to respond to calls that require mental health assistance.

“If an officer is dealing with somebody that they know and identify is suffering from mental health, they can call the officer and the mental health professional to respond," Edinburg police Chief Jaime Ayala said.

According to Ayala, Edinburg has had more than one officer involved shooting related to mental health issues — one of which was deadly.

Chief Ayala says he hopes to stop those situations before they get that far.

“Having a mental health professional and knowing the mental health community, knowing those that might need assistance or not, can very well prevent that type of officer involved shooting from occurring, which is what the end goal is,” Ayala said.

The training and backup from Texas Tropical is paid for through a $3 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The Edinburg Police Department and Tropical Texas Behavioral Health are one of only 12 recipients of the grant nationwide, and the only one in the Valley.

The money will last four years.

Gomez hopes the department will find a way to continue the initiative even after that.

“We want the officer to be able to be safe, we want our child to be safe,” Gomez said. “Don't stop once it runs out, autism never goes away."

Chief Ayala says it's something the department will evaluate when the time comes.

The mental health crisis response unit program launches in October when the grant money becomes available.