Denver: Support Team Assisted Response (STAR)

Location

• City: Denver, Colorado
• Population Size: 727,211
• Jurisdiction Size (Sq Miles): 154.9 sq miles

Intercept

• 0- STAR
• 1- Co-Responder Team

CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) Requirements

• All officers are CIT trained as part of the academy training. Looking at a second-tier class for people who want to learn now.

Model Components

• Area of Jurisdiction
  • Co-Responder teams are city-wide, including Denver Police Department, Denver Sheriff’s, Denver Fire, Regional Transportation District (RTD), and Auraria Campus Police
  • STAR pilot is in Downtown districts
• Staffing Structure
  • Teams of 1 licensed LSW practitioner and 1 paramedic
  • Co-Responder team of 36 people
  • STAR is a partnership with paramedics who are volunteering
  • 1 van M-F 10AM -6PM
  • 4 case managers are associated with the team. Can tag in a case manager, so they can lower barriers to their treatment. They have more time to work with the person and can do follow-up for a few days.
• Staff Training/Qualifications
  • A paramedic might be overkill, an EMT or EMT B might be enough
  • Need a licensed person to be able to put people on holds and call an ambulance without having to call police in that situation.
  • All clinical staff are LCSW/LPC and may also have LAC.
• Dispatch Structure
  • 911 center uses the CAHOOTS decision tree
  • Training on lingo
  • Direct line of communication
  • Co-responders are 911
  • STAR has a separate phone number if people want to call them specifically
  • They are talking about having a clinical presence at 911, right now it is just them understanding what STAR does
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Operating Structure

• Operations
  • STAR Is a pilot program that began in June 2020
  • Responses to 911 calls that have to do with substance abuse, mental health crises or people who just need help connecting to services
  • Most calls can be dealt with on site, occasionally provide MH transportation to hospital
  • Would like to have connection points to all the communities by having representation from each area to make it a more community-based initiative.
  • Co-responders are part of the culture of policing and dealing with MH.
  • STAR will pick up needles, but needle exchange mostly does that. They go on calls for people who missed methadone treatment. Pretty harm-reduction focused philosophy.
  • Denver has an elaborate crisis center, so they can bring people there who do not need to be hospitalized (24/7)
  • Solution center: opening in 3 months. 3 floors for different lengths of stay. 16 beds first floor (24 hours), 32-second floor (7 days), 50 3rd floor (45 days)
• Funding Mechanisms
  • 68% goes towards Medicaid for co-responder, might be a little higher for STAR. City picks up the cost for the rest
  • Caring for Denver passed in November (sales tax for mental health initiatives/planning) put police-specific behavioral health in budget.
• MOUs/Contracting
  • MOU with PD
  • Liability is included in contract with Denver
• Management Structure
  • Co-Responder, STAR, Victim response are all civilian staffed
  • Non-Profit employees from the crisis service center
  • Sometimes attend police role calls, but other than that PD has no oversight
• Supplies/Equipment
  • Currently have 1 van
  • Wear bulletproof vests under clothes

Data Systems & Collection

• Data Collection:
  • MHCD collects data
  • Police collect data
• Highlighted Statistics/Outcomes:
  • 150 calls for the first month. (Started in June 2020)

Key Takeaways

• Co-Responder team and STAR team are both beneficial and work well together.