Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Dallas outlines RightCare co‑response teams as behavioral‑health calls rise
Summary
City staff and Parkland Health representatives told the Community Police Oversight Board that the RightCare co‑response teams answered 12,412 calls in 2024 and handled about half of the police department's behavioral‑health incidents, while also responding to many non‑behavioral calls.
The City of Dallas’ RightCare co‑response teams answered 12,412 calls in 2024 and handled about 51% of the police department’s behavioral‑health incidents, city staff told the Community Police Oversight Board on April 1.
Tabitha Castillo, program manager in the Office of Emergency Management and Crisis Response, told the board the Rapid Integrated Group Health Care Team—or RightCare—operates citywide and pairs one Dallas Police Department officer, one Dallas Fire‑Rescue paramedic and one Parkland Health social worker in a single vehicle for most behavioral‑health responses.
“The team’s goal is to divert individuals from jail and hospitalization while building trust with communities,” Castillo said. She described RightCare as a co‑response model that began as a pilot in January 2018 and became a citywide unit in 2020.
Castillo presented operational metrics showing RightCare answered an average of about 1,100 calls per month in 2024 and served roughly 750 clients monthly, with an average of 49 jail diversions per month. She also told the…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
