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Council reviews state-funded behavioral-health co-responder arrangement with Vera French
Summary
Council discussed a state grant that funds a co-responder mental-health support arrangement; staff clarified the grant funds reimbursements to the city for the officer portion while Vera French provides the mental-health employee, and said the program will expand to seven days a week.
Council members reviewed a state-funded arrangement to provide behavioral-health co-responder support tied to police operations. Staff explained that earlier assumptions about how grant money flowed were corrected after negotiations: Vera French (the service provider) hires the mental-health employee, and the city reimburses provider costs that cover the officer side.
"So regards to that as it's state grant money... we initially felt that that money was going directly to Vera French. We didn't determine that it actually pays for the officer's side... Once we determined that there's actually funding coming to the city for the officer's side, we brought that forward to council," a staff speaker said while explaining the funding flow.
Council members pressed about timing: the agreement and negotiations were finalized July 1 but council said they were not informed until months later. Staff confirmed that Vera French pays the co-responder’s salary and provides equipment (phones and laptops), not city benefits; the city will reimburse the provider for costs applicable to the officer side. Staff also said the service expanded to seven days a week and that a newly hired co-responder began this week.
Next steps: staff will continue implementation and respond to council questions about the timing of bringing the agreement to council and will ensure documentation is circulated as requested.
