Three Things To Read This Week
1. How Austin’s First-In-The-Nation “Mental Health” Option Transformed How 911 Calls Are Handled In The City.
If you call 911 in Austin, Texas, a dispatcher will ask you: “Do you need fire, EMS, police, or mental health.”
That fourth option—“mental health”—is an innovation that started in Austin; and, as far as we know, is still the only city in the country to offer it through its 911 call center. Safer Cities interviewed Kedra Priest who oversees the broader clinician-led responder program in Austin, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deemed a “national role model”.
Why offer a “mental health” option?
First, “we put clinicians within the 911 call center, [so] we wanted to raise awareness … it’s a way to let community members know that [both] people in crisis could and community members trying to help individuals who might be experiencing a mental health crisis,” could call 911 and get an experienced mental health professional on the line [as opposed to simply receiving a law enforcement response].
What happens when someone selects the “mental health” option?
“When someone says ‘mental health’, [the dispatcher still performs] a screening process to ensure there’s not an immediate safety concern, [and] that police or EMS aren’t needed; and, if not, then they're able to transfer the call to one of our crisis center clinicians.”
“A clinician that conducts an additional screening to assess the situation; and, if necessary, to dispatch out one of one of our [mental health] crisis teams. Police typically have a lot of calls pending and some of the mental health calls are a lower priority. So, we help with both. Oftentimes, though, the clinicians are able to provide de-escalation support over the phone without needing to send a responder at all.”
“Conversely, in situations where a dispatcher does send a police or EMS response, those officers (or medics) are able to page one of our clinicians to respond to that 911 call on scene. And then we engage with a client with the goal being to take over to assess the situation, which releases the first responders back into the community to go to their next call when it’s safe for us to remain on scene.”
What city leaders need to know when considering implementing a “mental health” option.
Build Consensus With All Public Safety Partners Early. “At first, I think it’s fair to say, the police were cautious about the change to 911. You know, this is their territory, and within the 911 call centers, it’s a different culture. But once we got in there, and the calls started coming in, and police leadership and officers saw what we can do [to] support public safety, then that really built the trust quickly. Then the transfers from [police officers] greatly increased. So that was successful.”
Training And Education For Stakeholders. “It’s also important to provide training to all the call takers and stakeholders on what our team does, and also on mental health, first aid, and behavioral health issues.
One thing you hear all the time [from call takers, especially] is a concern about clinicians [being dispatched] into the community [instead of law enforcement]. Yet, we've been doing just that safely and effectively for years. So we don’t share that concern of course. But, it can all feel new to other stakeholders.
In addition to using training to familiarize stakeholders with the work that your team does, you’ll also want to look at your community and see which resources do you already have in place [that are trusted] so that it isn’t necessary to build trust from scratch.
2. Mobile Crisis Response Teams Expand Around The Country.
Helena Montana Police Chief Says “Expanding Mobile Crisis Response Services Means Increased Safety For Individuals, Law Enforcement Officers, And Our Community At Large—Everybody Wins.” The Montana Free Press reports that the county will fund the expansion of their successful mobile crisis response team services beyond Helena, where it largely operates currently, and into the “rural… northern parts of the county in Lincoln, Augusta, and neighboring Broadwater and Jefferson counties.” Since the pilot launched in 2022, the mobile crisis team has helped nearly 1,000 people in the city of Helena who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Helena Police Chief Brett Petty, a vocal supporter of the mobile crisis response program, explained to the newspaper that “expanding mobile crisis response services means increased safety for individuals, for law enforcement officers, and for our community at large—everybody wins.”Harris County, Texas Extends HART Program; Will Consider Creating A Broader Community Safety Department. County leaders announced plans last week to extend the county’s Holistic Assistance Response Team (HART) pilot program, which “sends social workers instead of sheriff’s deputies to some non-violent 911 calls.”
As Dylan McGuinness reports for the Houston Chronicle, the program has “diverted about 11,500 911 calls to mental health providers” since launching as a pilot project two years ago. All but one of the Harris County Commissioners expressed clear support not only for extending the pilot program, but also expanding and strengthening it.
Commissioners also commissioned research into how the HART program could transition from one that relies on third-party contractors to provide services to a “in-house” team of full-time county employees.
Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who spearheaded the HART program, urged his colleagues to consider creating a broader, Albuquerque style Community Safety Department, to handle all unarmed public safety services for the county. Ellis emphasized that Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez agrees that many of the functions that could be included within a community safety department—including the existing mental health mobile crisis response program—should “not be a part of law enforcement.”
As Safer Cities has reported, Albuquerque’s Community Safety Department is “the third branch of public safety” in the city and it responds to “incidents involving homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse incidents—dramatically freeing up both law enforcement and fire department resources.” By the end of 2023— just two years after opening its doors—ACS had handled over 45,000 calls for service, 60 percent of which otherwise would have been handled by the police.“The Need Is Growing.” How Detroit Area Leaders Are Handling A Surge In Demand For Mobile Crisis Teams.” For Fox News in Detroit, Hilary Golston and David Komer report on the “significant expansion of mental health services in Wayne County, Michigan … [as] eight mobile crisis teams [are] operating seven days a week… [with plans to expand to] 20 mobile crisis units operating 24 hours, because the need is growing."
The Vice President of Integrated Health Network, which oversees the mobile crisis program, told Kara Berg from Detroit News that there are three key features of the program that make it successful:“Each team has a masters-level clinical social worker and a peer recovery coach with lived experience [and] the teams can go to someone's home or meet them wherever they are as long as it’s in Wayne County.”
“They can connect people to community resources they may need, such as shelters or food banks, or to outpatient mental health or substance abuse resources.”
“They can also transport people to crisis stabilization units or hospitals if they need more care than the mobile units can provide.”
3. Transit Safety Ambassadors In Los Angeles Have “Saved More Than 250 Lives.”
In Los Angeles County, Transit Safety Ambassadors are “increasingly seen as a critical component of making public transit safer, cleaner, and more orderly.”
Ambassadors receive “training that covers everything from mental health to de-escalation tactics before officially hitting the platform,” where they regularly “conduct wellness checks on passengers… support riders and safety, connect riders to resources [and serve as] additional eyes and ears” to boost safety on the transit system.
It’s working. A recent rider survey found that “63% of passengers reported feeling safer when they see ambassadors.”
Yet, for The Guardian, Dani Anguiano reports on the underappreciated fact that Metro teams carry Narcan and literally save lives. Since the launch of the program the group of “350 outreach workers in bright lime green jackets whose friendly faces have become staples in the city’s sprawling transit system,”— ambassadors have “saved more than 250 lives [ranging from] people experiencing drug overdoses to medical emergencies.” For example, Transit Ambassador David Moreland, a combat veteran and former medic, said in an interview with The Source that he personally has “resuscitated five people––three by administering NARCAN, and two using CPR.”
