City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Alexandria Co-Response Pilot Program Update.
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ISSUE: Update on the implementation of Alexandria's Co-Response Pilot Program (ACORP).
BACKGROUND: At the October 27, 2020 City Council meeting, staff were directed to craft a proposal to create a behavioral health co-response pilot program. Staff presented a proposal for a co-response pilot program at the February 9, 2021 City Council meeting and Council voted to allocate $184,483 to create the Alexandria Co-Response Pilot Program (ACORP).
ACORP is intended to examine both the effects of a co-response crisis response approach with persons experiencing a behavioral health crisis, as well as of the use of City staff in these efforts. The program pairs a specially trained behavioral health professional and specially trained police officer to respond to calls for service involving a behavioral health crisis or concern. This team responds to calls together with the shared goals of diverting persons experiencing a mental health crisis away from criminal justice settings and into treatment settings when possible; resolving calls without use of force; promoting entry into the least restrictive treatment environment; minimizing unnecessary emergency department visits; and evaluating and comparing outcomes of this approach to those achieved by existing City services to better inform any opportunities for future growth.
The proposal approval by Council at the February 20, 2020 meeting included a design and implementation plan that was broken into three phases.
* Phase 1: Planning and Program Development
* Phase 2: Program Implementation
* Phase 3: Next Steps
Phase 1 was projected to take three to six months after fu...
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