Glossary

Crisis Response Programs 

Crisis Response Programs are designed to function as alternative response to law enforcement for individuals facing immediate mental health crises. These programs are staffed with unarmed mental health professionals who respond to non-violent calls for service and emphasize de-escalation and connection to long-term crisis prevention services for those in need (Blueprint for Change 2, 2022). Teams respond in groups ranging in size from 1-4 individuals and can be staffed with a combination of mental health professionals, medical workers, peer specialists and case managers to provide necessities including food, clothing, basic first aid, or simply someone to talk with and listen. Crisis Response Programs can be referred to as Mobile Crisis Response Teams, Alternative Response Teams, Community Response Programs to name a few (Bowers, 2023).  

Diversion 

Essential to the function of crisis response programs is their role in keeping those experiencing severe mental health challenges out of jail or unnecessary hospitalization. Instead, they are responsible for connecting individuals to long-term care and mental health resources, sometimes referred to as diversion centers. Diversion center is an encompassing term for crisis centers, solution centers, or recovery centers. 

De-tasking 

By removing the need for police officers to respond to mental health-related calls for service, crisis response teams are taking that responsibility away from, or ‘de-tasking,’ law enforcement agencies (Giacomantonio, 2024). An advocate for the Minneapolis BCR program has also referred to the process of transferring responsibilities as “appropriate response,” (Collins, 2024) which encompasses the reality that police departments have never been properly equipped to support mental health crises.  

MAKING THE CALL 

Call triaging 

Call triaging refers to the ways that calls for service are assessed for the appropriate response. For 911 call takers, this includes an initial questioning and assessment procedure to direct the call to the correct channel for response. As crisis response programs develop, one of the design considerations is how the call triaging process must be amended or adjusted so mental health-related calls are being directed to the proper teams (911 Dispatch Call Processing Protocols: Key Tools for Coordinating Effective Call Triage Important Components of Effective Call Processing Guides, n.d.). 

Hotline 

 A hotline is a direct phone number that is used for emergencies. For example, there is a national suicide hotline (988). Instead of using the 911 system, crisis response programs may choose to use a direct hotline to access resources. 
 

“quality of life” calls 

Quality of life calls refer to calls that address community issues such as noise complaints, public disturbances, and other lower risk concerns that are non-violent and very low levels of crime, if they even address a crime at all. In addition to addressing behavioral and mental health issues, this is a category of non-emergent 911 call that has been recommended for crisis response teams to take care of to allow law enforcement to prioritize emergencies (Irwin & Pearl, 2023).  

911 call taker 

911 call takers are the people on the other end of the phone when an individual dials 911. They are responsible for collecting information about the nature of the emergency (Neusteter et al., 2020, p. 21). 

911 dispatcher 

After a call taker determines the pertinent information about an emergency, the call is transferred to a dispatcher who is responsible for sending out the appropriate response team. In some areas, a dispatcher and a call taker can be the same person (Neusteter et al., 2020, p. 21). 

PROGRAM MODELS 

Co-responder 

Co-response is a model of crisis response that pairs a mental health worker alongside a uniformed law enforcement officer to respond to mental health crises. 

CIT model 

CIT model stands for Crisis Intervention Training and is designed as a training mechanism for law enforcement officers to properly respond to individuals experiencing mental health crises (Watson et al., 2019). However, evidence suggests that CIT training amongst police officers does not actually reduce use of force (Rogers et al., 2019).   

TYPES OF RESPONDERS 

First responder 

First responder refers to the people who are the first to arrive at the scene of an emergency. Often 911 call takers have been trained to ask whether the person on the other line needs fire, medical, or police services. These are scene as the three branches of first responders, who must complete certain training standards (34 U.S. Code § 10705 - Definitions, n.d.). In many localities, crisis response teams are being implemented and seen as a fourth branch of first responder. 

Civilian responder 

Crisis response teams that do not follow a co-response model are comprised of civilian responders, meaning the teams do not include an armed law enforcement officer (Irwin & Pearl, 2020). Rather, they are members of the community with specialized training.  

Clinician 

Clinicians are formally trained mental health professionals who are required to meet certain training qualifications or complete a designated license (Giacomantonio, 2024).  

Medic 

A medic is someone trained as either an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or a paramedic. Many crisis response teams may choose to compose their teams with a medic on staff in order to respond to basic first-aid needs of clients (Giacomantonio, 2024).  

Peer specialist 

Peer specialists are civilian responders who can connect with people in crisis on a personal level because of their individual experiences with mental health or substance abuse challenges (Towles, 2021). 

Case manager 

Some crisis response teams choose to staff case managers. These individuals are responsible for coordinating follow-up care resources for individuals who obtain crisis response services. The benefit of a case manager lies in the ability to provide personalized and long-term care beyond immediate crisis services (Amell, 2024).   

Credible messengers 

Similar to a peer specialist, these responders are individuals who have strong ties to their community and would be equipped to handle “quality of life” calls that do not necessarily require a behavioral/mental health specialist, but require strong mediation and de-escalation skills (Irwin & Pearl, 2020).