Press Democrat In Sonoma County, California, law enforcement agencies have increasingly declined to carry out involuntary psychiatric holds on people in mental health crisis, citing a 2024 federal appeals court ruling on officer liability, leaving families desperate and advocates warning the trend is putting vulnerable people at serious risk.

EMS1 Three mental health organizations filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, arguing that its 911 system violates disability law by sending armed police officers — rather than trained clinicians — to mental health emergencies, a practice plaintiffs say traumatizes residents and discourages them from calling for help.

Georgia Southern University's Counseling Center has signed an MOU with Coastal Harbor Behavioral Health to create a formal referral and care coordination system, giving students access to specialized services like inpatient treatment and crisis stabilization that extend beyond what the campus center can provide on its own.

Champaign is launching a mental health co-responder program designed to connect people in crisis with support services and prevent situations from escalating into violence, bringing together the Champaign Police Department, local firefighters, and mental health professionals. The program will focus on conducting crisis assessments and linking residents with resources before emergencies turn dangerous, with mental health specialists working alongside first responders both on calls and in community outreach.

Team members will also go door-to-door in neighborhoods and accompany officers and firefighters on certain service calls. Once fully launched, the team is expected to include four staff members, who have already been preparing through joint training and planning with police and fire personnel. The program is expected to begin operating in spring or summer.

The University of Chicago Health Lab released a comprehensive implementation evaluation of Michigan's Washtenaw County Co-Response Unit (CRU), which pairs a sheriff's deputy and a master's-level clinician to jointly respond to behavioral health 911 calls. Over its first 18 months, the team logged 1,537 crisis encounters across 204 overnight shifts, and proved especially effective on calls requiring both public safety authority and behavioral health expertise.

Nearly 24% of responses involved people experiencing homelessness, an unexpected but significant part of the team's work beyond its original mental health focus. The evaluation flagged practical challenges and recommended better dispatch training, clearer outcome metrics, and expanded community awareness to strengthen the model. A second CRU team was added in July 2024, and the county's new sheriff plans to continue the program while also exploring non-law-enforcement response options.