For 911 Calls, Are Mental Health Specialists Often the Better Choice?

For 911 Calls, Are Mental Health Specialists Often the Better Choice?

Posted on June 13, 2022

A recent Stanford University study on Denver's STAR program dispatches a two-person health team with a mental health provider and a paramedic instead of police for calls involving a nonviolent person with a mental health or substance abuse crisis. "We need to make sure these people get help rather than handcuffed," said Hannah Wesolowski, NAMI CAO. Mental health teams, arriving with water and blankets, create a different environment. "They ask questions: Does your head hurt? How are you sleeping?" Wesolowski said. "They connect with the person and try to get at the root of what's going on."