Akron is launching a pilot for a co-responder program to respond to people facing mental health crises.
The Summit County Outreach Team Initiative is comprised of crisis intervention team-trained paramedics, police officers, and behavioral health professionals.
Tracy Yaeger, president and CEO of Portage Path Behavioral Health, said that in areas where mental health is a concern but the person is not a danger to themselves or others, dispatchers and CIT He said a team would respond to reports from staff.
“This team provides innovative responses to people in crisis in our community,” she said.
Thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country use the co-respondent model, according to the Office of Justice Assistance. These programs have been shown to improve safety, reduce the use of force, increase the use of crisis management services, reduce repeat encounters with the criminal justice system, reduce costs, and improve community relations. I am.
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This method is better for first responders and the community, Yeager added.
“It is best handled by specially trained professionals without the use of force and is less traumatic for the individual,” she says.
During his campaign, Akron Mayor Shamas Malik ran on a platform of public safety and called for the city to implement a joint response program.
Malik said she realized the need for other options for responding to mental health crises when she experienced first-hand men in mental health crises.
“At that moment, our options were to do nothing or call the police, so we called the police and asked the CIT staff to respond, given their CIT training, and the police responded. “I’m grateful for that,” he said. “But in that moment, it was very clear to me that while that was an appropriate response, there could have been a better response.”
Malik said police officers also participate in SCOUT, but they do not lead the calls.
“If necessary, officers will be in the rear to ensure safety,” he said.
Chief Joseph Natko said the Akron Fire Department responds to about 15 mental health calls a day.
“Last year, in 2023, the Akron Fires alone had over 5,000 mental health calls in the city, and we were the only ones,” he said. “It’s just us responding. We know those numbers, but there are probably many other incidents that are happening that are not being reported.”
Amy Wade, executive director of the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Commission, said the team will be responding to calls Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with business hours changing over time. He said his goal is to expand.
Yeager said similar programs have been implemented around the country with positive results.
“All of these things combined can lead to better outcomes and, where possible, avoid or reduce hospitalization and incarceration,” she said.
ADM Board Medical Director Dr. Doug Smith said the team will continually evaluate their activities.
“Once we have the data, we look at the data and see if calls are going down,” he explained.
The data includes clinical information, demographic information, what was done over the phone and the results, Smith said.
“We don’t expect that, but they will definitely track whether there was a need to use force, whether they needed to call in other backup support,” he said. “They will talk about what their symptoms of mental illness and substance use were like.”
Malik said the city is committed to providing a summary of the data to the public to show the progress of the pilot.
The goal is to eventually expand the program beyond Akron, Wade said.
“In the future, this pilot will be completed and rolled out across the county,” she said.
The city said the program is a collaboration between Akron Corporation, the ADM Committee and the Portage Pass Behavioral Health Department.
