Co-responder team

Mental health crisis workers ride in patrol cars with specially trained law enforcement officers and, as a team, they respond to mental health calls for service and/or follow up with repeat utilizers. The team also links people with mental illnesses to appropriate services or provides other effective and efficient responses.

For more information on this intervention, see this resource:

• PMHC Toolkit, Co-responder Team

Local Examples

• Orland Park, Illinois' Co-Responder Program, also known as the Mobile Crisis Response Unit (MCRU), provides immediate, on-scene behavioral health support to individuals experiencing a mental health or co-occurring substance use crisis in the community. Working in partnership with local police departments and emergency responders, MCRU clinicians respond directly to calls where behavioral health expertise is needed, helping to de-escalate situations safely and compassionately.
• Each response includes a trained mental health professional who conducts clinical assessments, provides crisis intervention, and supports stabilization in real time. The team focuses on reducing unnecessary emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and justice system involvement by offering alternatives that prioritize safety, dignity, and connection to appropriate care.
• Services are delivered wherever the crisis occurs: homes, schools, public spaces, or other community locations, and are available for adults, children, and adolescents. The Mobile Crisis Response Unit emphasizes trauma-informed, person-centered care and works collaboratively with individuals, families, and first responders to identify next steps, develop safety plans, and connect people to ongoing supports such as outpatient therapy, community-based services, or higher levels of care when needed.
• By embedding clinical expertise alongside first responders, the co-responder program strengthens community safety, improves access to timely mental health care, and ensures that individuals in crisis receive the right support at the right time, in the least restrictive setting possible.

• As part of a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance, Mobile County partnered with the City of Mobile to create a co-responder team.
• The mental health crisis worker provides in-home or on-site outreach to people experiencing a mental health crisis, using de-escalation techniques to resolve crises on the scene and prevent arrests.
• The mental health clinician may transport the person to the local Behavioral Health Crisis Center for immediate treatment, set them up with outpatient services, provide referrals to other agencies and services if necessary, or provide follow up and medication monitoring at home until the person is stabilized.

• Four local police departments are currently participating in the co-responder team program. The police departments were identified based on call volume to EMS for assistance with mental health-related concerns.
• Working with law enforcement, the co-responders assist with calls where behavioral health might be an underlying factor for individuals at risk of arrest. The co-responders can be dispatched along with law enforcement officers on these calls or follow up with individuals to provide an assessment or referral for services if an arrest did not occur.
• In 2022, co-responders were involved in 3,096 referrals from police officers (either on-scene or as follow-up). Of those referrals, only 133 resulted in charges.

• The embedded clinician, called the jail diversion clinician (JDC), responds alongside officers to mental health-related calls for service as well as identifies people in the community that could benefit from follow-up contact through data review and community partners.
• The team performs outreach and follows up with people to provide ongoing support, treatment referrals, and connection to services.

For a sample related to this example, see this resource:

• Jail Diversion Clinician Job Description, Arlington Police Department

For more information on this example, see this resource:

• Arlington Police Department Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site Profile

• Los Angeles Police Department started the Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART) in 1993, making the city one of the first in the nation to develop and implement the co-responder model.
• The program deploys 17 co-responder teams on a 24/7 basis to support officers in effectively responding to people in crisis through intervention and referral.

For more information on this example, see these resources:

• Mental Evaluation Unit (MEU) Overview (SMART Overview)
• Los Angeles Police Department Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site Profile

• Clinicians embedded in local police departments provide on-scene response to calls for service by request of officers, dispatch, or self-staging.
• Clinicians provide behavioral health follow-up and connection to services.
• The behavioral health team includes behavioral health clinicians, peer support specialists, and a clinical program supervisor who can be requested for co-response by any officer from participating law enforcement agencies.

For more information on this example, see this resource:

• SAMHSA's GAINS Center Behavioral Health & Law Enforcement: Early Diversion Initiatives

• The co-responder program embeds mental health professionals in city police departments throughout the county.
• They respond with law enforcement on site when mental illness is identified as a factor in a call.

For more information on this example, see these resources:

• Johnson County’s Co-Responder Program, The Johnson County Government Magazine, Fall 2017
• Mental Health and Criminal Justice Case Study: Johnson County, Kan.

• The Crisis Response Team (CRT) pairs mental health professionals with specially trained police officers to respond to calls for service with a mental health component. The team employs a case manager who is tasked with post-contact outreach to connect the client to local resources.
• The CRT aims to utilize the lowest level of care needed and, when at all possible, provide treatment on the spot, diverting people away from emergency departments and jails. Clinicians coordinate with community providers, use de-escalation skills, and conduct safety planning to provide the client with the most appropriate level of care.
• The CRT also houses a Targeted Violence Prevention program that utilizes a public health model to educate the community on targeted violence, conduct behavioral threat assessments, and collaborate with community stakeholders to create and enforce threat management plans.

• The Justice and Crisis Response Unit (CRU) launched in February 2021 and consists of a clinician from Behavioral Health Response, a community-based provider, and an officer from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The program serves as a street triage co-responder model. The model ensures that CRU teams are the first to respond whenever possible, are called to the scene quickly when they are not the first to respond, and continue to follow up on cases after their initial response.
• The goals of the CRU are to
  • Provide de-escalation for people who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis;
  • Develop a crisis response plan for people who were in crisis and have been stabilized; and
  • Conduct follow-up for people who were in crisis and assist with coordination of care.
• From February 8, 2021, until August 2022
  • The CRU engaged and diverted 7,584 people in crisis;
  • 91 percent (6,937) of people engaged by the CRU were diverted from hospitalization; and
  • 99 percent (7,490) of people engaged by the CRU were diverted from jail.

For more information on this example, see this resource:

• Justice and Crisis Response Unit

• The Crisis Intervention Response Unit (CIRU) works to expand the range of law enforcement and behavioral health strategies to meet the needs of people with behavioral health concerns in Denver. It includes a co-responder program that teams up clinically certified social workers with Denver Police Department (DPD) patrol officers to respond to calls for service involving people in crisis.
• Clinicians in the co-responder program can make on the spot referrals and appointments for follow-up behavioral health services.
• The CIRU is a partnership between Denver Human Services’ Office of Behavioral Health Strategies, DPD, and WellPower (a mental health center in Denver).

For more information on this example, see this resource:

• Crisis Intervention Response Unit 

• The Integrated Care Team (ICT-1) is a multidisciplinary co-responder program aimed at providing resources to people in the community experiencing mental health crisis. 
• COMCARE, a community-based behavioral health provider organization, is the lead agency for the program, in collaboration with Wichita Police Department and EMS from Sedgwick County.
• The team consists of a mental health professional, a law enforcement officer, and a paramedic and responds to emerging mental health crises in the community identified through the 911 and COMCARE Crisis systems. 

For more information on this example, see these resources:  

• ICT-1 
• Wichita Police Department (Law Enforcement-Mental Health Learning Site Profile)

• The Portland Police Department developed a comprehensive Behavioral Health Unit to improve outcomes to calls for service. 
• The Behavioral Health Response Program includes: 
  • A full-time behavioral health coordinator (BHC) responsible for supervising and managing a robust co-responder program and facilitating crisis intervention training for officers. Under the supervision of the BHC, a full-time alternative response liaison co-responds to crisis calls with officers and conducts follow-up and referrals. 
  • A full-time substance use disorder liaison, as part of the Law Enforce Addiction Recovery Advocacy Program.  
  • Two police liaisons with the Opportunity Alliance who work full-time as co-responders, collaborating with officers to address crisis calls and conduct follow-up.  
  • Alternative Response Teams comprising two teams of two clinicians who respond to low-level 911 calls for services to people with mental health and substance use needs without a law enforcement presence. 
• All officers undergo extensive training in crisis intervention. 

• Special Services 
• Contact Major Jason King, Portland Police Department, [email protected] or Bridgit Sliwak, LCSW, Portland Police Department, [email protected]