City, organizers emphasize need for community input with new crisis response team

Details about a pilot for the city’s new clinician-led crisis response team won’t be released until closer to its launch early next year, but organizers who have helped the city put the program together are hopeful community input can make it successful.

Mayor Joe Hogsett joined Office of Public Health and Safety Director Lauren Rodriguez and Faith in Indiana at a press conference Sept. 9 to highlight the $2 million allocated for the program as part of the mayor’s proposed 2023 budget.

The goal is to implement a 24-hour clinician-led response team with at least two clinicians that will respond to nonviolent mental health calls and add mental health experts to the 911 call center. The team will initially operate in a limited number of districts before expanding.

Rodriguez said city officials are still working out key details such as composition of the teams and what triggers a clinician-led response.

Faith in Indiana organizer Josh Riddick said it’s important to be transparent throughout the process and continue to include the community’s perspective in developing the pilot program. He said leaders in other cities such as Gary and South Bend are already looking at Marion County’s pilot program to see how they can implement similar programs.

“This is the cutting edge of public safety,” Riddick said. “We’re convinced that collaborating together with voices in the community can ensure that this team represents and looks like the community it’s serving.”

Hogsett said it is important to begin the process early to learn what community members want and how to best implement practices.

Faith in Indiana and city officials have talked to more than 800 predominately Black community members who agree there needs to be a “different type of response,” Riddick said.

“The truth is we can no longer afford as a community to simply lock up those who are struggling with mental health or diagnosed mental illness and substance issues and keep them incarcerated for the duration of whatever sentence they might receive without any treatment whatsoever,” Hogsett said. “The time is critical that we do this.”

City officials and leaders with Faith in Indiana visited Denver last month to learn about the city’s STAR program, a similar clinician-led response team, to help inform the establishment of the pilot program.

Contact staff writer Jayden Kennett 317-762-7847 or by email JaydenK@IndyRecorder.com. Follow her on Twitter @JournoJay.

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