STOCKTON, Calif. — A new pilot program, funded partly by the City of Stockton, will send crisis intervention and behavioral health specialists to some non-violent, low-level 911 calls in place of police or fire crews.
The Stockton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement with Stockton's nonprofit Community Medical Centers to build the program with $5.76 million of the city's American Rescue Plan funds.
According to city documents, the program will aim to decrease recidivism, decrease repeat callers on emergency lines, increase community trust, decrease costs related to emergency calls, decrease fears of calling the police, and divert people from the criminal justice system.
The program, modeled after others across the nation, would create a behavioral health first responder system where a team comprised of a licensed clinician, an outreach worker and a case manager would respond to some police and fire calls.
Once a 911 call is received where dispatchers determine the situation calls for mental health intervention, the crisis intervention team will be sent out.
Later, a Community Medical Centers follow-up team would be called in to provide more resources to those involved in the situation from housing or shelter help to behavioral and mental health care -- services already offered by the nonprofit.
"We will be building on the trust and our lessons learned over those last 20 years with our street outreach and shelter programs," said Christine Noguera, CEO of Community Medical Centers at Tuesday's meeting. "The real value we bring to the project is the comprehensive wrap-around services that we have throughout our organization."
During Tuesday's city council meeting, city leaders including the council members and the Fire and Police Chiefs praised the program, adding it could reduce the number of non-emergency calls for police and firefighters.
“Our City Council is committed to providing solutions that address the root cause of homelessness. 66% of our unsheltered residents are experiencing mental health or substance use challenges," said Stockton Mayor Kevin Lincoln. "This Care Link Response Program provides the appropriate response to non-emergency calls for service, supporting those impacted by our current behavioral health crisis.”
While the program will start with only one unit, coordinators hope to eventually be able to offer the program every day of the week and incorporate more community organizations and voices.
"Initially, we will start with one mobile unit as we bring up systems, learn our lessons and slowly grow over those three years," Noguera said. "Community partners will be identified to meet needs including housing assistance, domestic violence prevention support and targeting youth programs."
City officials say that while the program is still being worked out, they expect to see the first crisis intervention teams hitting the streets by the end of the year.
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