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Takoma Park reviews early results from county–city mental‑health pilot; officials seek clearer data on off‑hours demand
Summary
City and county staff briefed the council on a three‑month snapshot of the co‑responder mental‑health pilot: 89 logged calls since December, clinicians handled about half the on‑hour responses, and officials agreed to refine data collection (including tagging 988 referrals) before expanding coverage or staffing.
Takoma Park and Montgomery County officials on Tuesday outlined early results from a pilot program that pairs mental‑health clinicians with police dispatch to respond to crisis and behavioral‑health calls.
Deputy City Manager Zara said the city began structured data collection on Dec. 1 and that, through Feb. 28, clinicians logged 89 calls — roughly 1.4 clinician‑period calls per weekday. "We fielded 89 calls," Zara said, noting most were during daytime hours when city clinicians are on duty and that the program mixes clinician‑only and co‑responder models.
Why it matters: the pilot is meant to test whether calls for service can be diverted from traditional police response to clinician‑led teams and whether the city should scale toward fuller coverage. Zara and county partners said the early data show clinician‑only responses accounted for about 52 percent of calls handled during the clinicians’ on‑duty hours, with co‑responder responses making up roughly 30 percent.
County senior administrator Dorn Hill said the county’s heavier mobile‑crisis staffing runs typically Monday–Friday, noon–8 p.m., with limited overnight teams. "Our heaviest volume time is actually Monday through Friday 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm," Dorn Hill said, adding the county runs seven mobile crisis teams at peak times and fewer overnight.
Council members pressed staff on two themes: whether the snapshot understates demand because it excludes off‑hour calls, and how 988 crisis‑line referrals are tracked. Council Member Lamman asked whether the pilot could miss a "lion’s share" of needs if many incidents begin outside clinician hours and are routed directly to county crisis services. Zara and county staff acknowledged that the current charts focus on calls during clinician hours and that the team will start tagging and comparing off‑hour 911 calls and transfers from 988 so the city can see the full service burden.
Next steps described by staff include improving the pilot’s data schema, tagging 988‑originated calls, and refining which incidents are triaged for clinician‑only response. The council also heard that the city recently applied for additional federal earmark funding and expects to negotiate a new MOA with the county to begin July 1, 2027, if funding and staffing are secured.
What remains unresolved: officials said it is too early to recommend a permanent change to hours or staffing and that the pilot’s value will hinge on a fuller accounting of off‑hour work and the volume of 988 referrals that ultimately produce 911 dispatches. The council asked staff to return with more precisely tagged data and a six‑month progress report.
