PHOENIX — The city of Phoenix has expanded a program that handles calls related to mental health, substance abuse and crisis intervention. In turn, it's helping take a load off fire and police departments.
When you call 911, you typically think of a response by firefighters or police officers but, there is another option that is becoming more integrated within the community.
"I've responded to scenes where there may be community members that have a mental health diagnosis and that is a secondary trauma for them. And we, I also respond out to those who have disabilities that may not be processing events the way that other people will," said Emily Hawbaker, a supervisor with the City of Phoenix Fire Department Community Assistance Program (CAP).
The Phoenix City Council approved $15 million in June of 2021 to expand the community assistance program. Now, we are seeing the impact.
CAP consists of crisis response units and behavioral health units, along with behavioral health dispatchers. The city hired 48 more caseworkers who started working in July, bringing the total number of staff to nearly 80.
"Our goal is to be able to respond throughout the city of Phoenix, with a response time of 30 minutes or under," said D.C. Ernst, a CAP administrator.
In a report to the city, the top reasons the crisis response units are called out are for death, working fires, hazardous materials, floods and social service. The top reasons the behavioral health units are called out are for housing insecurity, mental health and substance abuse.
"We approach it from a different perspective, right? Because PD really is there to identify... was there a crime that was committed, who committed the crime and taking that individual into custody. While we're more about the individual person and the health of that person, mental health, physical health, and all of that," said Ernst.
A community advocate, who has fought for the expansion of this program, believes caseworkers have the ability to de-escalate situations.
"We don't want to exacerbate an issue that could be remedied if it were addressed by someone who does have the boots on the ground understanding," said Jacob Raiford, a community advocate.
