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Belton’s mental‑health co‑responder reports reduced ER transports and high first‑time encounter rate
Summary
City behavioral health co‑responder Oscar Villarreal reported that in the program’s first year the team stabilized most co‑response calls in the field, reduced emergency department transports and engaged many first‑time crisis callers.
Oscar Villarreal, the city’s behavioral health co‑responder embedded with the Belton Police Department through a grant from the Department of Justice and Missouri Department of Mental Health, told the council that his first full year on the team produced measurable reductions in hospital transports and repeat crisis calls.
Villarreal reported that from January 2024 through January 2025 the program handled 202 crisis calls involving 162 unique individuals; roughly 80 percent of calls involved…
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