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Oakland Community Health Network reports rising behavioral-health demand, expansion of walk-in and co-responder services
Summary
Oakland Community Health Network told the county board it has seen increases in call volume and expanded walk‑in and co‑responder services, connecting hundreds through on‑site clinicians and reporting declines in arrests where co‑responders are deployed.
Oakland Community Health Network (OCHN) presented to the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on April 10, reporting increased demand for behavioral-health services and growth in several county programs that connect people to care.
OCHN Executive Director Adena Lazamy said call volumes to the network rose by approximately 9 percent and that the 988 behavioral-health crisis line numbers have also increased. She described a partnership with the Oakland County Health Department that places a clinician at the Southfield Health Department site; since that clinician began work a few months ago OCHN has connected more than 200 people who walked in for help to behavioral-health supports and, when appropriate, started therapy and interventions.
Lazamy highlighted the county’s Pontiac walk-in clinic (soft launched May 2024), which she said has served more than 1,500 people since opening, and noted that the walk-in model allows simultaneous attention to physical-health needs and behavioral-health screening.
Co-responder program data: OCHN described CORE, the co-responder program that pairs clinicians with law-enforcement responses. Lazamy reported about 6,700 CORE referrals and said arrests in those cases decreased by about 3 percent; she added that 49 percent of CORE contacts remain in the community and 21 percent voluntarily transported to the county’s Resource and Crisis Center (Common Ground). Lazamy said the program has trained six clinicians who ride with law enforcement and that the county’s response toolbox has broadened as a result.
Other services: OCHN noted a sober-support unit located at the Common Ground Resource and Crisis Center and said more than 10,000 individuals have been served there since 2017. The network also described mental-health school navigators (participation in over 101 community events and 779 referrals) and veterans navigators that help connect unhoused or isolated veterans to housing and services.
Funding and risks: Lazamy warned that Medicaid and managed-care changes remain a funding threat; she said some services in the county are not Medicaid‑billable and rely on local investments and grants. Commissioners asked for comparative arrest‑reduction data for other jurisdictions with co-responder programs; Lazamy said she would gather more comparative information, noting Detroit/Wayne County as a comparability point.
Audience reaction: Board members praised the network’s outreach and partnerships. Commissioner Smith asked about demographic reporting categories on the walk-in data (unreported/refused vs. decline-to-specify), and Lazamy said increases in people declining to provide demographic details may reflect fear among undocumented or otherwise vulnerable callers.
OCHN handed out materials that included analyses about the cost-savings of treatment versus incarceration; the presentation closed with a call to use 988 in crises and to continue county funding and collaborative partnerships.
