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Health committee advances renewal of Elm City Compass contract, hears data and capacity questions
Summary
The New Haven Health and Human Services Committee reviewed a proposed $1.27 million contract to continue Elm City Compass crisis response, heard testimony on outcomes and capacity, and heard motions to adjust funding; committee members pressed for clearer metrics and for data on police and emergency‑room diversion.
The New Haven Board of Alders Health and Human Services Committee on May 28 reviewed a proposed contract renewal with Continuum of Care to continue Elm City Compass, the city’s community crisis‑response team, including a total contract amount of $1,270,000 with $670,000 described as city general‑fund support.
Laura Mitchell, coordinator for community initiatives in the Department of Community Resilience, told the committee the Compass team now operates seven days a week and has completed 4,380 responses since its launch. "Compass works very well in close partnership between the police, fire and 911 dispatch," Mitchell said, describing coordination with a 24‑hour crisis stabilization center and outreach across neighborhoods.
The proposal would continue current operations, Mitchell said, with a multi‑year contracting structure contingent on future funding. She said monthly public data reports are available at elmcitycompass.org and emphasized Compass’ role linking crisis response to shelter and longer‑term services.
Jack T., director of the Elm City Compass initiative, told the committee Compass was designed as a system bridging police, fire, hospitals, libraries and shelters and said recent surveys identify Compass as an effective crisis‑service provider in the city. "To provide stability to the system that we all built together, we need a continuous contract for the crisis team to be renewable across multiple years," he said.
Committee members pressed presenters on outcome measures. One member asked for the program’s core metrics and horizon for success; presenters said the primary measures are reductions in arrests and unnecessary hospitalizations, diversion from emergency rooms and data reviewed by a community advisory board. "We're trying to understand if the program is doing that," a presenter said of the Compass evaluation.
Presenters said work is underway to quantify how much police and hospital time Compass saves. Jack T. said he has been working with hospital and police data teams to develop estimates; the transcript shows committee members requested those numbers but does not include a final quantified tally.
Public testimony included multiple residents and community advisory board members who urged contract renewal and described Compass’ role during a recent winter when warming centers and the 270 shelter were filled.
Procedurally, the chair asked for a motion to discharge the item to meet a state deadline. The transcript records motions to amend proposed funding levels later in the meeting and the chair's announcement that items were amended; the transcript segments supplied do not include a roll‑call vote tally.
The committee’s next procedural steps are to forward the amended item(s) as required under the Neighborhood Assistance Act timelines and for the board to take further action before statutory deadlines.
