PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The City of Philadelphia has begun public discussion on how to get mobile crisis response units up and running.
A hearing at City Hall focused on a resolution addressing the first steps on how to build out Philadelphia's 911 Triage and Co-Responder Program. It is designed to connect Philadelphians experiencing a mental health crisis to both law enforcement and mental health professionals.
"The idea is to connect two different responses, depending on what the individual's issue is," said Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) Acting Commissioner Jill Bowen.
This would come through a two-pronged approach:
- The formation of a triage desk located at 911 Radio Control and Dispatch offices
- A planned expansion of the co-responder program with trained clinicians from DBHIDS.
"In order to prepare for this multi-pronged approach, a script was developed. Training was developed," said Bowen.
Local activists voiced concerns about combining police response with clinicians. Activists were worried that de-escalation would not be a priority.
However, Bowen said that after the pilot roll-out, those fears were not realized. Feedback has been positive.
"It has resulted in no injuries, no arrests and time to de-escalate and work with the person in distress, " said Bowen.
Just a month ago, Mayor Jim Kenney’s budget address included a proposal of $6 million to expand the pilot program, as well as $7.2 million to expand behavioral health mobile crisis units.