Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther announced a $1 million investment in the city's Alternative Crisis Response Program, funding five new non-uniformed crisis response professionals, 11 total clinicians paired with first responders, and — for the first time — a therapy dog to help de-escalate mental health emergencies. The funding is part of a broader $8.8 million continuing investment, and a new clinician will also be embedded in the city's 911 call center. City Council approval is still pending.

Source: 10TV / WOSU Public Media, Feb. 26–27, 2026

A two-person team of licensed clinical social workers embedded in the Fullerton, CA Police Department has responded to over 1,000 calls since launching in early 2025, with 43% resulting in a mental health evaluation. Funded by a $1 million county supervisor grant, the pilot is expected to run out of money by May 2027. Federal behavioral health grant cuts have stalled alternative funding, and the department is now asking the Fullerton City Council to sustain the program going forward.

Source: Orange County Register, Feb. 20, 2026

Law enforcement in Manistee County, MI are responding to a growing number of mental health crisis calls — with higher severity, longer transports (sometimes to Indiana), and a chronic shortage of psychiatric beds. Officers must escort individuals through hours-long evaluations and multi-day waits, driving overtime and burnout. Local agencies, including tribal public safety, say the shift from a jail-first to a care-first mindset is underway — but systemic constraints remain.

Source: Manistee News Advocate, Feb. 27, 2026

Cuyahoga County has announced the First Call Cuyahoga: Community Co-Response Startup Fund, committing $3.5 million in opioid settlement dollars to help municipalities across the county launch and expand programs that pair licensed social workers with law enforcement and fire personnel on mental health and substance use calls. The initiative builds on the First CALL co-response model piloted in Shaker Heights in 2022 and since expanded to several suburbs including Cleveland Heights, University Heights, and most recently Parma and Parma Heights. Municipalities will have flexibility to design programs suited to local needs, with the county providing data-sharing, training support, and best practices.

The fund is part of a broader county push that also includes $7 million toward a new behavioral health crisis center set to open in Cleveland's Central neighborhood in fall 2026. The county's simultaneous 20% cuts to ADAMHS-funded agencies, however, have raised concerns about whether the system can sustain both the expansion and the new center's long-term operational costs.

The Lincoln, Nebraska Co-Responder Program — a partnership between the Lincoln Police Department and behavioral health nonprofit CenterPointe — celebrated its one-year anniversary on March 3, 2026, having responded to 366 mental health calls for service in its first year. Of those, 248 individuals received help that eliminated the need for further emergency intervention, and approximately 75% were able to remain safely in the community. Co-responders are embedded within LPD and monitor radio traffic to self-dispatch or respond to officer requests across mental health, domestic, and youth-related calls.

The program is currently funded through a $550,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance grant and a $200,000 COPS Program grant, with nearly 85% of those funds going toward co-responder salaries — a funding structure the city will need to address as grants approach their September expiration.