Vera Institute: Crisis Response Services for People with Mental Illnesses or Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Amy C. Watson, Michael T. Compton, and Leah G. Pope drafted and revised this report with input from members of the Research and Evaluation Committee of Serving Safely: The National Initiative to Enhance Policing for Persons with Mental Illnesses and Developmental Disabilities at the Vera Institute of Justice. As part of its charge, Serving Safely developed a research agenda for the Bureau of Justice Assistance and other federal agencies that considers the current research base, identifies gaps in knowledge, and lays out scalable research and evaluation options. To complete this goal, the Research and Evaluation Committee first identified existing models of partnership between police/law enforcement and mental health and developmental disability service providers to include in a comprehensive review of the literature. The authors then drafted the literature review. The committee members reviewed the draft and provided written feedback and comments through virtual convenings. All feedback was then integrated into the final report. Link.

University of Chicago Health Lab: Transform 911 - A Blueprint for Change

Across America, at least 240 million calls are made to 911 each year.1 Many of these result in timely responses from a dedicated group of 911 professionals2 to medical emergencies, fires, and serious crimes in progress. This everyday excellence—24 hours a day, 365 days a year—is a remarkable, often lifesaving accomplishment. Indeed, 911 professionals are true first responders. At the same time, the majority of calls to 911 are for issues that fall outside the scope of emergency calls, ranging from noise complaints to minor traffic collisions or mental health crises.3 These calls do not require a police, fire, or medical response, and people impacted by the criminal justice system,4 along with 911 professionals and police officers, have been arguing for years that something needs to change in the 911 system.5 And what a time for change it is. The world is reeling from a global pandemic, and many cities are experiencing rates of violent crime, especially gun crime, that have not been seen in decades.6The recommendations being put forth by Transform911 in this blueprint support the increasing demand for 911 professionals and police, fire, and EMS department responses that are the consequence of these disturbing trends. These recommendations are not in contradiction of these new realities. In fact, they help increase the time that police and 911 professionals can dedicate to responding to violent crime, as other elements of the first responder ecosystem can take responsibility for calls that need not involve police, helping to prioritize scarce public resources more efficiently and equitably to where they are most needed. The levels of systemic complexity are typically hidden from public view and consideration, as is the dedicated 911 professional workforce; 911 doesn’t enjoy the broad public recognition that other first responder systems have; it is often conflated with policing.7 As we will describe and offer solutions for, that 911 is under the radar screen has impacted research, reform, funding, staffing, and evolution of the system. This has profound implications for 911 delivering on its promise, impacting the health and wellbeing8 of people across America. Link.

Vera Institute: Understanding Police Enforcement: A Multicity 911 Analysis

With more than 240 million 911 calls each year, a sizable proportion of police officers’ time consists of responding to calls for service. Despite the importance of the 911 call system, little information exists on the nature of calls for service, how they are handled, and how police respond. The Vera Institute of Justice partnered with two police departments to study this crucial component of the policing system. Researchers employed a five-pronged mixed methods approach: reviewing the literature on 911 calls for service; mapping the 911 call system process and analyzing 911 call audio records; analyzing computer-aided dispatch (CAD) data; applying Natural Language Processing techniques to assess narrative fields in CAD data; and analyzing linked CAD and record management system data. By combining these five research components, Vera sought to identify alternatives to traditional 911 call-processing practices that could potentially improve outcomes for community members, call-takers, dispatchers, and police officers. Link.

People for the American way: All Safe - Transforming Public Safety

The goal of All Safe: Transforming Public Safety is to provide concrete policy proposals for the transformation and implementation of public safety programs at the local level. Our research focused particularly on the 20 US cities or metro areas with the largest proportion of Black residents. This report provides a range of policy options, recognizing that not every locality will be able to move immediately to the most aggressive approach. Our expectation is that, as localities begin adopting these proposals and gather and develop additional evidence of their effectiveness, these confirmations will strengthen the political case for going further. All Safe: Transforming Public Safety proposes a four-pronged approach to reducing police violence: Restructure, Hold Responsible, Remove, and Recruit. We address the underlying issues and concerns that shape our public safety programs and make specific suggestions for transforming both how we think of public safety and our public safety programs. Link.

Center for American Progress: The Community Responder Model: How Cities Can Send the Right Responder to Every 911 Call

Today, a significant portion of 911 calls are related to quality-of-life and other low-priority incidents that may require a time-sensitive response but are better suited to civilian responders, rather than armed police officers. Some 911 calls may not require a time-sensitive response at all. Recent original analysis conducted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) examined 911 police calls for service from eight cities and found that 23 to 39 percent of calls were low priority or nonurgent, while only 18 to 34 percent of calls were life-threatening emergencies. While many 911 calls do merit an emergency police response, unnecessarily dispatching armed officers to calls where their presence is unnecessary is more than just an ineffective use of safety resources; it can also create substantially adverse outcomes for communities of color, individuals with behavioral health disorders and disabilities, and other groups who have been disproportionately affected by the American criminal justice system. Link.

Industry Council: HISTORY OF 911 And What It Means for the Future of Emergency Communications

This is a historic time in the emergency communications industry that presents unique challenges as well as great opportunities. Public safety agencies are in catch-up mode—often as a result of being unable to keep pace with the widespread innovations that have redefined technology in the commercial and consumer markets over many years. What is more, this unfortunate technology gap has the potential to become a dangerous chasm because necessary 911-focused legislative and policy changes lag behind the broader technological advances. The prospect of modernizing is further hindered by the fact that the industry is comprised of multiple public and private stakeholders that often operate independently from one another thereby complicating the potential for consensus. As a result, the emergency communications industry lacks a coherent strategy for regulatory, legislative and funding changes necessary for the implementation of Next-Generation 911 (NextGen 911) on a widespread, eventually nationwide, scale. NextGen 911 is inevitable; but a successful nationwide rollout will require a level of collaboration never before seen in the industry. This report is intended to provide public and private sector stakeholders with a clear understanding of the history of 911 in America—its genesis, implementation, ongoing enhancements, and potential for further development in relation to technological and regulatory considerations as NextGen 911 becomes a nationwide reality. Link.

Local Progress Impact Lab: Creating A Community Responder Program

Prior to the advent of paramedics, police put injured people into squad cars and drove them to the hospital; in some cases, they still do. Paramedics developed as a profession relatively recently, in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, they are a permanent part of our local government and medical infrastructure. This development over the last fifty years demonstrates what’s possible: local governments can establish a new emergency response that provides a better answer to specific emergency calls for service. Now, another new emergency response is taking root. Localities are establishing community responder programs for the same reason that paramedics took root fifty years ago: police officers are the default response to many calls for service that they are not trained or equipped to handle appropriately, including categories like mental health crises and homelessness. Multiple analyses of 911 call data from different jurisdictions show that the vast majority of calls are not life threatening and do not merit an armed law enforcement response. Link.

Council of State Governments Justice Center: 911 Dispatch Call Processing Protocols: Key Tools for Coordinating Effective Call Triage

When a 911 call for service is received, dispatch center staff need to make quick decisions about which agency—law enforcement, fire, or emergency medical services (EMS)—will respond to the call. The dispatcher also has to decide which type of response is appropriate. This can be complex, as law enforcement agencies and their partners have implemented a range of alternative interventions to respond to behavioral health calls, such as crisis intervention teams, mobile crisis units, co-response teams, community responder programs, and more. A call triage protocol—commonly known as a processing guide, decision tree, or flowchart— is one essential tool for guiding the response to these calls. Processing guides include clearly written policies and procedures that outline the roles and responsibilities of all public safety answering points (PSAP) staff and offer specific guidelines for scenarios that officers and dispatch staff may encounter. Call processing guides are needed to fully maximize the effectiveness of police-mental health collaborations (PMHCs). This brief presents examples from jurisdictions that have developed such protocols and provides guidance on the steps PSAPs can take to develop and implement their own call processing guide. Link.

Urban Institute: Evaluating Alternative Crisis Response in Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response (STAR) Program: Interim Findings

This report is part of an ongoing evaluation of the STAR program. Our prior brief described the STAR program and its early implementation (Gillespie, McGilton, and Rogin 2023). Here, we describe preliminary findings from our analyses of 911, public safety, and STAR encounter data collected from the Denver Department of Safety and WellPower, the mental health services organization that staffs STAR van teams. We also describe findings from qualitative data collected through surveys and interviews with STAR program stakeholders, staff, and clients. This brief reflects early stage findings and is intended to keep program stakeholders informed about, and invite their input in, the ongoing evaluation. Next, we plan to identify a comparison group so that we can measure differences in public safety outcomes for people who received STAR services compared to people with similar characteristics who did not receive STAR services. We also plan to use data collected by the STAR Community Partner Network to understand STAR follow-up referrals and services. Our goal for this year is to release a public report focused on STAR outcomes, conduct a cost study to better understand the public benefits and costs of the program, and perform a scaling-up assessment to estimate the full demand for STAR services and the implementation and budget requirements for meeting that demand. Link.

Urban Institute: Understanding Denver's STAR Program

Law enforcement agencies are often first responders for people experiencing mental health or substance use crises because most communities have few other options. In order to better connect people in crisis to the services they need, a growing number of communities are exploring alternative crisis-response strategies that, for example, pair police with social workers or other clinical professionals, or allow teams of clinicians and medics to lead crisis response without police involvement. The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent demand for police reform have accelerated the implementation of these alternative strategies in communities across the country; however, not much research has been done to understand the implementation and impact of these strategies. Denver, Colorado, is implementing both of the above types of crisis-response strategies through the Co-Responder and Support Team Alternative Response (STAR) programs and has committed to the robust evaluation of program implementation, outcomes, and costs of each. This brief summarizes key themes from the first year of the STAR program evaluation. It is focused on understanding the STAR program implementation, including successes and challenges, and informing practitioners and policymakers who are seeking to implement and improve similar programs. We review our findings from the first year of the evaluation of Denver’s Co-Responder program in a separate brief (Gillespie, McGilton, and Rogin 2023). Link.

Portland Street Roots: Believe Our Stories and Listen Portland Street Response Survey Report

A team of community partners spread out across the city July 16 and 18 to interview people experiencing homelessness to help inform the design of the Portland Street Response pilot project (PSR). An additional team went out on Sept. 6. Members of Street Roots, Sisters of the Road, Right 2 Survive, Street Books, the Portland State University Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, the Mapping Action Collective, Yellow Brick Road, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty’s office, and Alissa Keny-Guyer’s office interviewed 184 unhoused people. Participants formed teams of two to three, each lead by a Street Roots vendor or someone else who had experienced homelessness. Teams engaged people experiencing homelessness in discussions about what the PSR pilot should look like, including who the first responders should be, how they should approach individuals in crisis, what types of services and resources they should bring with them, and what types of training they should have. Following the interviews, responses were analyzed and summarized into this report to provide guidance for this important initiative based directly on the needs and experiences of unhoused people. Link.

NYU School of Law Policing Project: Convening of Minneapolis Community Leaders: Reimagining Community Safety

The following summary captures the conversation of a group of twenty-five community leaders from Minneapolis, hosted ni April of 2021 as the foundational meeting of collaborative effort to reimagine public safety. The group explored both immediate changes and long-term solutions for achieving effective, equitable public safety in all communities. The importance of affinity spaces for Black people was underscored throughout. What was originally organized as a strategy session quickly became a venue for exploring shared trauma and paths to healing in the wake of the police killing of yet another unarmed Black man, Daunte Wright in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park just days prior to the convening. Issues explored ranged from legislative, to programmatic, to budgetary, but the overarching message was simple: Black communities must be empowered - both through policy and direct financial investment - not only to contribute, but lead efforts to define and achieve public safety moving forward. Link.

RAND Corporation: Evaluation of Los Angeles County's 2023 Mental Health Campaigns

RAND researchers conducted surveys to evaluate the campaigns' reach and impact in two age groups, youth (ages 14 to 25) and adults (26 and older), using a countywide survey. An additional survey was fielded at Take Action for Mental Health events to assess attendees' immediate responses to these events. Take Action for Mental Health reached one in four county youth and one in five county adults. The campaign events and social marketing efforts were well received and met the campaign goals of promoting mental health resources and community connections and reducing stigmatizing attitudes about mental health. Do Worthwhile Work reached one in five county youth and nearly one in ten county adults. The campaign was well received and appeared to meet its workforce recruitment aims. About one-half of the representative sample of county residents said they would consider applying to LACDMH. Recommendations for future campaigns are provided. Link.

Nena: Recommended Minimum training guidelines for telecommunicators

The Recommended Minimum Training Guidelines for Telecommunicators Project is the result of a 9-1-1 community-wide effort that ensued over a three-year period. The goal was to identify nationally recognized, universally accepted, minimum topics that can be used to train aspiring and current 9-1-1 telecommunicators— call-takers and dispatchers — and which provide the foundation for their ongoing professional development. The effort was driven by the belief that it is vital Americans receive a consistent level of 9-1-1 service no matter where they live or where they travel. Consequently, there must be agreed-upon common elements that ensure the person who answers a 9-1-1 call has met baseline core competencies, and that the public will receive consistency of expertise and professionalism when communicating with a public safety answering point (PSAP), aka a 911 communications center, or other Emergency Services Provider. A parallel goal of the Project was to develop Model Legislation for any state that does not currently have legislation concerning minimum training for telecommunicators. For those that do, the Model Legislation is intended as a baseline to ensure that the recommended minimum training topics are being covered. Link.

Center for American Progress: Dispatching community responders to 911 calls

When developing community responder programs, city leaders frequently ask how their 911 call center can best identify calls and direct them to the new teams. To ensure the right response is provided in each situation, 911 call centers may need to alter how they choose which team to dispatch.9 911 call centers must effectively identify eligible calls without delaying call times or overburdening their already stretched staff. This report is designed to guide cities seeking to safely and effectively adapt their dispatch systems to integrate community responder models into their first response services. The authors use the term “cities” throughout this report for simplicity, but one of the first questions officials must answer is who runs dispatch services, which can occur on a local, regional, or state level. Link.

Council of State Governments Justice Center: Financing community responder programs

Community responder programs position health professionals and staff trained in crisis response as first responders to behavioral health crises and social disturbances. These teams provide immediate assistance to people in crisis, facilitate connections to support services, conduct wellness checks, and more. As community responder programs expand throughout the country, finding creative ways to fund and financially sustain them will be critical to their long-term success. While every jurisdiction’s budgetary landscape is different, this brief offers common sources of funding that can be used to finance community responder programs. To budget for community responder programs, many jurisdictions have started leveraging multiple funding streams, which can help protect the program against lapses in service if one funding source ends. This brief does not advocate for one funding source over the other; rather, it details challenges and opportunities to consider for each. Link.

Chicago justice Project: Cops in Schools: Tracking nationwide changes after George Floyd

During the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd, calls for police reform echoed across the country, including around the issue of cops in schools. Activists called for change in the use of school police, also known as School Resource Officers (SROs). Concerns about the school-to-prison pipeline and its racially disparate impact on black and brown youth sparked a national conversation on the role of policing in America’s schools. As more than three years have passed since the heightened calls for police reform began in 2020, it is important to examine how these movements have impacted policing in schools. The goal of the present report is to understand the movements for reform and policy changes around cops in schools that emerged following the Black Lives Matter movement in Chicago and other major U.S. cities. Link.