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Alamosa co-responder team reports increased enrollments, 210 community contacts this quarter
Summary
City co-responder staff told the City Council the program has 58 active participants, roughly 30 enrollments since October and 210 community contacts during the quarter; staff said they are using emergency-commitment and court-ordered medication authorities more often and training local partners.
Alamosa City co-responder staff reported growth in referrals and community outreach at the Dec. 18 City Council meeting.
The update outlined why the work matters: the co-responder team is enrolling residents into services that local officials say can reduce repeat emergency calls and help connect people to treatment and housing resources.
Staff said the program has 58 active participants and had ‘‘46 referrals October through today. We’ve successfully enrolled about 30 of those, and we say about because some of them are in process right now,’’ and later noted, ‘‘Our co responders, they made 210 community contacts this quarter.’’ The presenter said about 54% of referrals come from criminal-justice-related agencies such as community corrections and probation, and 46% from health-care providers including hospitals and local recovery centers.
Council members asked for clarification about tools staff described. The presenter explained the team is using emergency commitments and court-ordered medication processes that had not been commonly used in the valley, and described one case in which an inpatient mental-health placement was secured after a jail assessment rather than allowing an individual to leave without a safety plan. Council members praised the use of the tools and suggested a future, deeper briefing on court-ordered processes.
The update also covered training: team members completed certifications on emergency and voluntary commitments, short- and long-term mental-health commitments, and court-ordered medication processes. Councilors thanked the team and said the numbers help city leaders explain the program’s work to the public.
Council and staff requested a possible future, more detailed report on outcomes and the use of court-ordered resources once staff can gather longer-term data.
