Madison Heights council hears OCHN co-responder presentation as city logs 440 referrals and 54% community diversion rate
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Summary
Oakland Community Health Network staff told the Madison Heights City Council the county's co-responder program received 1,331 referrals in 2025 across four cities and 440 referrals in Madison Heights through 12/31/2025; presenters said about 53.8% of local contacts remained in the community rather than being transported or arrested, and councilors discussed funding and sustainability.
Tricia Zizambo, chief operating officer of Oakland Community Health Network, and Hillary Nussbaum, supervisor of the co-responder program, presented the county-run co-responder model to the Madison Heights City Council and reported local outcomes through Dec. 31, 2025.
The presentation said the program's clinicians — licensed, master'level social workers employed by OCHN and embedded with law enforcement — began serving four municipalities (Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights and Royal Oak) in mid-2024. OCHN reported 375 referrals from September to December 2024 and 1,331 referrals across 2025 for the four jurisdictions; Madison Heights accounted for 440 referrals (about 25% of the total) from program inception through 12/31/2025.
Why it matters: presenters emphasized that co-responders aim to divert people with behavioral-health needs from emergency rooms and criminal-justice outcomes and to connect them to continuing care. Nussbaum said roughly 53.8% of Madison Heights contacts remained in the community after co-responder involvement, about 18% were transported voluntarily to a resource or emergency center, about 13% were transported involuntarily, and arrests represented a very small share of outcomes.
Council reaction focused on sustainability. Councilor Wright said the diversion numbers were compelling and urged continued budgetary support; other council members and staff noted the program is largely sustained by a mix of grants and municipal budget contributions. Zizambo said the initial funding model splits costs across the four participating cities (a 25% share model for those jurisdictions) but that some positions are supported directly through local budgets. She also said the program provides additional county-level supports, including mental-health resources for first responders and training such as a 40-hour crisis negotiation course.
The presenters described on-scene roles (de-escalation, suicide assessment, petition support), follow-up referrals within 24–48 hours, hospital liaison work to prevent gaps when people leave emergency settings, and legal coordination such as obtaining pickup orders from probate court where clinically warranted.
Council members praised the partnership with law enforcement and urged staff to seek sustainable funding. Mayor Haynes and other members said they would continue to explore grants and county support to keep the program operating.
Next steps: presenters and council members discussed expanding capacity but said additional funding would be required; no formal council direction or budget vote was recorded at the meeting.
