crisis response

The UC team collaborated on a panel at the 2022 IACP Conference, titled “Innovation in Police and Community Responses to Behavioral Health Crises,” to discuss the findings from the national survey of police on crisis response training, programs, and partnerships. Panelists included Dr. Robin Engel, Senior Vice President, National Policing Institute; Domingo Herraiz, Programs Director, International Association of Chiefs of Police; and Cornelia Sigworth, Associate Deputy Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The partners hosted a workshop at the 2022 IACP conference, “Building Effective Crisis Response Programs: Key Elements for Success,” featuring Chief Don Hedrick from the Rapid City (SD) Police Department; Chief Nick Hurley from the Corvallis (OR) Police Department; Dan Abreu, Senior Project Associate at PRA; Leigh Ann Davis, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at The Arc’s NCCJD®; and Cornelia Sigworth, Associate Deputy Director in the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The partners worked with representatives from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Community Health and Safety (OCHS) to present “Expanding the Continuum of Support: Co-Response in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania” at the National Co-Responder Conference on June 7, 2022. This presentation highlighted lessons learned in the City of Pittsburgh on the hiring of co-responders and the creation of a cross-organizational infrastructure to support the successful implementation of co-response, crisis triage, and resource referral.

Across the United States, law enforcement and behavioral health agencies have increasingly begun to incorporate peer support specialists in their responses to people experiencing behavioral health crises in their community. Peer support specialists are individuals with lived experience with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and/or trauma who are trained, and often certified, to support others with similar experiences in their community.

NCJA partnered with the National Governors Association (NGA), the National Association of State Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) and Jac Charlier from PTACC to convene a small group of state-level leaders who are working in deflection.

Policy Research Associates, in collaboration with partners, is leading the coordination and implementation of strategic planning for crisis response with the Pittsburgh (PA) Bureau of Police. The strategic planning session will occur across two days, during which the PBP and their criminal justice and behavioral health/disability service provider partners will participate in a full Sequential Intercept Model Mapping to identify their current system for crisis response and any gaps/barriers to that system that might be improved upon.

Policy Research Associates, in collaboration with partners, is leading the coordination and implementation of strategic planning for crisis response with the Rapid City (SD) Police Department. The strategic planning session will occur across two virtual sessions, during which the RCPD and their criminal justice and behavioral health/disability service provider partners will participate in a modified Sequential Intercept Model Mapping (intercepts 0-2) to identify their current system for crisis response and any gaps/barriers to that system that might be improved upon.

Policy Research Associates, in collaboration with partners, is leading the coordination and implementation of strategic planning for crisis response with the Corvallis (OR) Police Department. The strategic planning session will occur across two virtual sessions, during which the CPD and their criminal justice and behavioral health/disability service provider partners will participate in a modified Sequential Intercept Model Mapping (intercepts 0-2) to identify their current system for crisis response and any gaps/barriers to that system that might be improved upon.

Rural communities can face many challenges when developing and delivering crisis response programs for people with behavioral health conditions and intellectual and developmental disabilities, including wide geographic areas to serve, limitations in options for local treatment and social services, and resource constraints related to funding and staffing.