GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Grand Rapids Police Department and Network180 are marking three years of their “co-response” program, which pairs a mental health clinician with a police officer to respond to calls involving mental health.
When the initiative was launched in July 2022, there was one social worker who worked with a dedicated officer. Since then, the program has expanded to include two more social workers and a roster of qualified officers. Officers can also request a follow-up from the co-response team after initial contact is made.
GRPD co-response team offers ‘other options’ to people in crisis
“Historically, when officers arrived on scene, if somebody was in any sort of mental health crisis, kind of the protocol or the standard was you have that person go via ambulance to an emergency department for a mental health screening,” explained Krissy Rutkauskas, who was the first clinician to join the team. “So having a social worker in the car, we’re able to come up with different options for the individual.”
Over the past three years, police say the co-response team has provided more than 4,200 responses. Rutkauskas called the number “staggering” for a small team…