Lucas Robinson
The Wisconsin State Journal
MADISON, Wis. 鈥� A Madison pilot program that sends paramedics and crisis workers to mental health emergencies in lieu of police is now answering calls citywide as officials hope to expand the alternative to law enforcement in the months ahead.
CARES 鈥� Community Alternative Response for Emergency Services 鈥� has nearly doubled its number of responses to nonviolent mental health calls since launching in September, Deputy Mayor Katie Crawley said in a statement. In total, CARES teams, which consist of one paramedic and a Journey Mental Health crisis worker, responded to 246 calls as of mid-March, Crawley said. The average call time was 53 minutes.
Ch茅 Stedman, an assistant fire chief and CARES supervisor, said the program continues to collect data and is still evaluating how it measures its success. The program tracks how many people it refers to social services, Stedman said, though the program鈥檚 success can be measured in other ways, such as decreases in arrests and emergency room transits.
鈥淚f you talk to a police officer, they鈥檒l say success is diverting calls from police,鈥� Stedman said. 鈥淚f you talk to a client of ours, well, a police officer didn鈥檛 walk into the room. So that was great.鈥�
Originally, CARES had only responded to calls in the Central Police District, between lakes Mendota and Monona and stretching from Park Street to the Yahara River. Before going citywide, CARES teams responded to about five to six calls each day, Stedman said.
Because only one team works during a shift, not every call can get a response and instead police are sent, Stedman said. The program hopes to change that once another daily team is added this summer.
When a CARES team responds to a mental health crisis, staff de-escalate the situation, collects information on the patient鈥檚 history, finds out whether they鈥檙e insured and then refers them to services. Staff also follow up with patients on how they鈥檝e used the services. Since the start of the program, CARES teams have only had to call for police backup five times, Stedman said.
Almost 20% of the people CARES responds to are experiencing homelessness, the city said. Half are uninsured and 64% are previous patients of Journey Mental Health.
鈥淭he big takeaway for me is the City of Madison and Dane County Human Services are doing their best to address the mental health problems in our county and our city,鈥� Stedman said. 鈥淭his type of program has been shown to be best practice across the country.鈥�
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