Today's Brief
One jail diversion navigator for all of northwestern Oklahoma
Chicago's crisis teams stay out until 10 p.m., UF police keep crisis calls out of the hospital, and a sheriff's 12-bed jail unit fills up
Two mobile crisis RFPs and three fall conferences
Houston's clinician-only 911 team loses its federal money November 30
Total read time: 4 minutes
Real Impact
Kaleda Battle works out of El Reno for the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System. When a client facing charges needs housing, food stamps or mental health care, she screens them by phone, finds a program that fits and works to get them admitted. Her territory spans the rural counties of northwestern Oklahoma, where most clients have no public transportation to reach treatment.
She is one of four resource navigators for the entire state, and only 25 of Oklahoma's 77 counties run early diversion programs. That gap matters: clients of Oklahoma City's Diversion Hub reoffend at about 16%, against 27% for Oklahoma County as a whole. The full story covers what happened to a $1.5 million request to hire more navigators, and what rural defendants do in the meantime.
Who to Contact:
Oklahoma Indigent Defense System (Executive Director Debbie Maddox): 405-801-2601
Sponsored by:
If you're running behavioral health, law enforcement, EMS, or social services, you already know the nightmare: agencies using different systems, data stuck in silos, and vulnerable people falling through the cracks because the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Before you resign yourself to another round of phone tag and missed referrals, just know there's a far better (and simpler) way: Julota.
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Request a demo right here. It's purpose-built for communities like yours, wildly effective, and already trusted by programs in over 25 states
Program Upgrades
Longer Hours, Steady Partners and a Full Jail Unit
Starting October 12, the city's clinician and EMT teams take 911 calls from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. instead of 10 to 4. A clinician known on the job as "Doctor Melly" explains why arriving without a badge changes the call.
Two clinicians ride with the same six officers, and the team took 163 behavioral health calls last year. Officer Alex Wanzenberg explains why keeping the pairs fixed matters.
Franklin County's jail now treats people found unfit to stand trial, so they no longer have to leave the region for care. Sheriff Kyle Bacon explains why neighboring counties are lining up.
Resources
Funding Watch
Dutchess County, NY: Mobile Crisis Intervention Team RFP. The county is procuring its mobile crisis team (RFP-DCP-105-26). Proposals are due October 19 at 2 PM.
New York State OMH: Health-led Crisis Response Pilots. Up to four awards of $2 million each over three years, with at least one in a rural area. Proposals are due November 19.
On the Calendar
IACP 2026 Annual Conference, Orlando, October 24 to 27
Pennsylvania Statewide CIT Conference, Hershey, October 26 to 27
Virginia CIT Conference, Roanoke, November 16 to 18
Now Hiring
Chicago Department of Public Health: CARE team clinicians and EMTs. The city is recruiting as it grows to 17 crisis teams by the end of the year.
Under Pressure
Houston diverted 4,036 crisis calls away from police and ambulances in fiscal 2025, and its Rapid Response program, which sends a clinician alone to some 911 calls, runs on COVID relief money that ends in seven weeks. If your program still leans on one-time federal dollars, this is the story to forward to whoever writes your budget.
Social briefs:
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