Canopy Roots, the contracted operator of Minneapolis'funded Behavioral Crisis Response (BCR), briefed the Public Health and Safety Committee on Oct. 29 and reported program growth, examples of front-line work and outstanding data and scope questions raised by council members.

Sheree Hansen, program manager for the Minneapolis BCR program at Canopy Roots, told the committee the program is an unarmed, clinically staffed first responder model embedded in 911 that aims to decriminalize mental-health crises, avoid unnecessary involuntary hospitalization, and connect people to community-based services. She said Canopy Roots now operates around the clock and has expanded to a maximum of five vans in service at peak times.

Hansen said Canopy Roots responded to more than 11,500 calls in the most recent year and nearly 35,000 calls since the program's launch in December 2021; about 75% were coded as behavioral crisis welfare checks (BCRW) and about 25% as priority-1 mental-health BCR calls. Lead responder Tiana Ingram described a priority call involving a person with suicidal intent and an accessible firearm: Canopy Roots staff de-escalated, worked with police to secure the weapon, and transported the person voluntarily to a hospital. "We got her to a point where EMS wouldn't be needed," Ingram said, describing the outcome as the product of rapport-building and rapid coordination with police.

Council members pressed staff for more rigorous annual performance data. Council Member Palmisano noted a legislative directive due in June that requested response-time metrics, average call duration, staffing resources and outcome breakdowns; she said the council needs those data to perform contract oversight, particularly in light of a recent $7 million amendment to the program contract. Hansen acknowledged data collection gaps and said the program and city dispatch (MECC) are working on clearing forms and data practices.

Multiple council members raised "scope creep" concerns: BCR teams have occasionally been asked to perform tasks outside a mental-health crisis model (for example, assisting with a wheelchair issue or providing nonclinical rides). Fire Department leadership and BCR staff said they are working with MECC, MPD and other partners to clarify eligibility criteria and the program's operational boundaries and to align data collection with external gap analyses previously completed.

Committee members asked about community oversight. Hansen said Canopy Roots has worked to create a community advisory board focused on accountability and policy feedback; the board is still being established and Canopy Roots said staff will follow up with details on membership and operation.

The committee received and filed the Canopy Roots presentation at the end of the discussion.

Provenance: topicintro: "Then collapsed. Alright. Mister chair, members of the committee, we have with us today our partners from Canopy Roots to make their annual presentation on behavioral crisis response. So, I'd like to introduce to you Sherry Hansen, director of behavioral crisis response for Canopy Roots." (Chair Jason Chavez, 33:25). topfinish: "Thank you so much for the presentation and for the update on BCR...I'll ask the clerk to file Mister oh. I'm sorry...I'll ask the clerk to file that report." (Chair Jason Chavez/Clerk, 77:27).

Speakers

- Sheree Hansen — program manager/director, Behavioral Crisis Response, Canopy Roots (nonprofit contractor) — first referenced 34:37
- Tiana Ingram — lead responder, Canopy Roots (nonprofit contractor/responder) — first referenced 48:03
- Chair Jason Chavez — chair, Public Health and Safety Committee (government) — first referenced 00:15
- Chief Tyner — Fire Department leadership (role/title as given in discussion) — first referenced 68:08
- Chief Rudder — Fire Department leadership (role/title as given in discussion) — first referenced 71:48

Authorities

- type: "other", name/description: "BCR contract and related city procurement/contract oversight documents (referenced generically)", referenced_by:["behavioral_crisis_response_contract"]

Actions

- {"kind":"other","motion":"Receive and file Behavioral Crisis Response presentation","mover":"not specified","second":"not specified","tally":{},"outcome":"received","notes":"Clerk instructed to receive and file the report; no roll-call recorded"}

Clarifying details

- "responses_since_launch": {"detail":"Nearly 35,000 calls since Dec. 2021; 11,500+ calls in the most recent year; 8,973 BCRW calls and 2,610 priority-1 BCR calls reported for a prior annual period","source_speaker":"Sheree Hansen"}
- "eligibility_criteria":"Behavioral/mental health crisis; no active weapons; no ongoing physical violence; not a medical emergency; substance use acceptable if not creating safety risk" (source_speaker: Sheree Hansen)
- "program_operations_change":"BCR transitioned to Fire Department in Jan. 2025; staffing and leadership turnover noted; expanded to max five vans at peak" (source_speaker: Sheree Hansen)

Proper_names:[{"name":"Canopy Roots","type":"organization"},{"name":"Minneapolis Behavioral Crisis Response","type":"program"},{"name":"MECC","type":"agency"},{"name":"City of Minneapolis Fire Department","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance:{"geographies":["City of Minneapolis"],"funding_sources":["city contract funds","climate legacy initiative (partial)"],"impact_groups":["people experiencing behavioral health crises","residents requesting unarmed response services"]}

Meeting_context:{"engagement_level":{"speakers_count":8,"duration_minutes":90,"items_count":1},"implementation_risk":"medium","history":[{"date":"2021-12","note":"BCR program launched (contracted)"},{"date":"2025-01","note":"Program transitioned to Fire Department"}]}

Searchable_tags:["behavioral crisis response","Canopy Roots","BCR","unarmed response","MECC","scope creep"],

provenance:{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"2005.36","local_start":0,"local_end":220,"evidence_excerpt":"Then collapsed. Alright. Mister chair, members of the committee, we have with us today our partners from Canopy Roots to make their annual presentation on behavioral crisis response. So, I'd like to introduce to you Sherry Hansen, director of behavioral crisis response for Canopy Roots.","tc_start":"33:25","tc_end":"33:45","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"4647.885","local_start":0,"local_end":140,"evidence_excerpt":"There is no 1 that's on queue. Thank you so much for the presentation and for the update on BCR, which is a service that's really important to our constituents and a service that they value a lot. So I just wanna thank you for being here today.","tc_start":"77:27","tc_end":"77:47","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]}