City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 3, 2022
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
THROUGH: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER /s/
FROM: KATE GARVEY, DIRECTOR, DCHS
DON HAYES, CHIEF, APD
RENEE GORDON, DIRECTOR, DECC
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Alexandria Co-Response Pilot Program Update.
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ISSUE: Update on the Alexandria Co-Response Pilot Program (ACORP).
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive ACORP's Initial Evaluation Report.
BACKGROUND: The Alexandria Co-Response Pilot Program (ACORP) officially launched on October 1, 2021. Since then, over one hundred and forty ACORP interventions have occurred, the outcomes of which have exceeded staff expectations, resulted in favorable outcomes for the persons served, and helped staff from the Department of Community Services (DCHS), the Alexandria Police Department (APD), the Department of Emergency and Customer Communications (DECC) and the Office of Performance Analytics (OPA) refine and align the work to help inform the ongoing development of the City's behavioral health crisis response system.
DISCUSSION: With assistance from OMNI Institute, ACORP's initial evaluation report includes a first look at the program's data and outcomes. Initial findings indicate the following:
* Since October 1, 2021, 958 total behavioral health-related calls have been received by 911 call takers at DECC.
o Of these, 145 were responded to by ACORP;
o 52% of these calls were for "unusual behavioral" or threats/harm to self;
o Most calls responded to by ACORP were resolved on-scene (45%), with ACORP providing resources or referral to a community service (20%), or resulted in a voluntary transport to another community service like a hospital or shelter (16%);
o Only 3% of calls that ACORP responded to resulted in arrest;
o Only 13% of calls that ACORP responded to resulted in an involuntary transport to the hos...
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