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Grandview proclaims Corresponder and Crisis Responder Week, cites program diversions
Summary
Mayor Leonard D. Jones proclaimed National Corresponder and Crisis Responder Week; city and program partners highlighted the Grandview co-responder team's call volume and diversion outcomes since 2022.
Mayor Leonard D. Jones and the Board of Aldermen proclaimed a week in September as National Corresponder and Crisis Responder Week and recognized Grandview's co-responder program during the meeting.
The proclamation summarized the program's purpose and cited program figures presented to the board: the Grandview Police Department partnership with Rediscover began in June 2022 and the city's two trained behavioral health co-responders have supported about 1,425 calls for service, diverted roughly 20% of those cases from emergency departments and diverted about 5% from incarceration.
A crisis responder who spoke at the meeting thanked the Grandview community and named two long-serving co-responders, saying, "Our team does an amazing job. Steve Watts and Chelsea Whitcomb, who can't be here, have been with the Grandview Police Department co response program since its origination, which speaks volumes to our first responder partners because they love their role." The spokesperson also credited Chief Baldwin and partner organizations for supporting co-response work.
Discussion: The proclamation and remarks stressed that co-response aims to provide real-time assessments, intervene on-scene, and connect people in crisis to behavioral-health services with the goal of diverting arrests and emergency-room visits.
Decision: The board issued the proclamation recognizing the crisis-response partners and their work; the mayor signed and the city clerk attested the proclamation.
Background: City staff described co-response as pairing a crisis-trained behavioral-health professional with a first responder to collaborate on mental-health crisis calls. The proclamation also noted the program's community-based intervention role for issues including substance use, housing instability and suicidal ideation.
What happens next: The city will continue to deploy co-responders on appropriate calls and the proclamation formally recognizes the program and its partners.
