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Falls Church pilot suggests a full‑time behavioral health clinician to support police, schools and HHS
Summary
A city pilot pairing a clinician with police response to behavioral‑health calls found gaps in information sharing and follow‑up capacity; staff recommended considering a full‑time clinician housed in Human Services to provide clinical consultation, case management and linkages, with any hiring to be considered in the FY26 budget.
City staff presented results of a year‑long co‑responder pilot on Feb. 10 and recommended the city consider hiring a full‑time behavioral health clinician to support the police department, schools and the Department of Housing and Human Services (HHS).
Dr. Tanisha Bracey, a clinical counselor at Aurora House who led the pilot, said the Marcus Alert framework requires coordinated responses to behavioral‑health 911 calls but that the city’s experience working under the Fairfax‑Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) left gaps the pilot exposed. The pilot provided clinician support on outreach to unhoused individuals, consultations with schools, and clinical advice during psychiatric crises, Bracey told council.
Bracey summarized what the pilot…
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