Oak Park reports 181 referrals for ECHO alternative response in first five months; staff urges expanded capacity

Vanessa Matheny, community services administrator for the Village of Oak Park, gave the Village Board an interim report on ECHO, the village’s alternative call‑response and care‑coordination pilot. Matheny said the program — approved by the board on June 11, 2024 — moved from planning into service in January–February 2025 and has since handled 181 unique referrals.

Matheny described ECHO as a person‑centered care navigation team that includes one program manager, two care coordinators and three community service officers embedded with the Oak Park Police Department. “This presentation will provide an overview of the work we’ve accomplished during phase 1, share measurable impacts in the community, and highlight how ECHO has supported residents in crisis, reduce the burden on emergency services, and strengthen collaboration between community partners and our police and fire departments,” she said.

Nut graf: Staff told trustees that ECHO is responding to a mix of mental‑health, housing and other social needs, that most referrals are not one‑dimensional, and that early results show reductions in repeat crisis calls when care coordination is available — but the workload per case is high and the program needs sustained staffing, data systems and partner agreements to scale.

Mathen…