City deploys clinicians, specialists to deal with downtown mental health crises

Since July 1, individuals in distress in downtown Indianapolis have been able to call 911 to receive assistance from a plainclothes-wearing team from the pilot program of the Clinician Led Community Response, or CLCR.

The CLCR teams consist of trained mental health professionals and peer support specialists, or individuals who have undergone addiction or mental health issues. They provide 911 dispatchers with an option for a non-police response to emergencies.

Creation of the response teams stemmed largely from promises made by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett to advocacy group Faith in Indiana in March 2022. Hogsett followed up that pledge by securing $2 million in this year’s city budget to fund the effort.

The city has a contract with Stepping Stone Therapy Center to run the pilot program, while other local counseling service providers—Pheonix Nicholas Center and Moving Forward LLC—assisted in training and implementation.

“Having a robust Clinician Led Community Response Program demonstrates a commitment to our residents’ overall mental health and wellbeing,” Andrea Brown, director of operations for Stepping Stone Therapy Center, said at a press conference Wednesday. “Recognizing the significance of mental health in the broader context of public safety is a progressive step towards addressing the root causes of crime, violence and community unrest.”

Calls for a clinician-led team have intensified since April 2022, when Herman Whitfield III, who was having a mental health crisis, died while in police custody after being shocked with a stun gun. A grand jury indicted two of the police officers involved in April.

Hogsett said the new team is the third part of a three-pronged push to increase access to mental health care for residents who find themselves in crisis. The two other initiatives are the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team and the Assessment and Intervention Center, an alternative to jail for those with mental health and addiction treatment needs.

Martine Romy Bernard-Tucker, director of the Office of Public Health and Safety, said 911 dispatchers began training on how to recognize a non-violent call suitable for the CLCR last year. As an additional precaution, clinicians have a radio and can request assistance from IMPD or the Mobile Crisis Assistance Team if a situation becomes dangerous, she said.

Before heading out on a run, a CLCR will discuss details of a call and occasionally ask for more details from dispatch, clinician Haleigh Rigger said. Once they arrive in the CLCR-branded van, they assess for safety by checking for weapons, live electrical wires, or other hazards. While the clinician evaluates the individual on several psychological measures, peer specialists identify factors that might be affecting the situation.

After engaging with the individual and determining the situation is safe, the clinician and peer specialist will debrief on-site and contact the program manager at the office to determine the proper next steps, Rigger said. This might entail bringing the individual to the Assessment and Intervention Center or providing other addiction or mental health resources. In a recent instance, a woman from out of town with dementia needed to be reconnected with family, she said.

After returning to the office, the team debriefs to determine whether the issue was handled properly and if there are follow-up steps, Rigger said.

For now, the CLCR operates from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily and covers only the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s downtown district. When the program is at full capacity, it will operate around the clock and also cover IMPD’s east district. The program has 15 employees, Brown said, and would need 36 employees for complete implementation.

Brown said staff went through extensive training before going on runs, learning de-escalation tactics, safety planning, crisis intervention and more. In the program’s first 25 days, teams responded to 20 calls in the downtown district and have done proactive work to build relationships with stakeholders, city spokesperson Mark Bode told IBJ in an email.