By Sean McDonnell
cleveland.com
CLEVELAND — As Cleveland City Council presses Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration to advance Tanisha’s Law — a proposal to send unarmed clinicians to certain mental-health emergencies — lawmakers are pointing to other cities that already run the kind of programs they want to create here.
The three council representatives sponsoring Tanisha’s Law — Stephanie Howse-Jones, Rebecca Maurer and Charles Slife — pointed out four different cities as models in a presentation they gave to other council members last week.
| NEXT: EMTs, paramedics need ‘culturally competent counselors’
Albuquerque, Allegheny County, Durham and Evanston each operate versions of “care response,” where behavioral-health experts, not police officers, are dispatched to some 911 calls involving mental illness, substance use or wellness checks.
Albuquerque created a civilian department, Albuquerque Community Safety, in 2021. The agency dispatches unarmed responders — including social workers, clinicians and trained outreach workers — to non-violent calls such as behavioral-health crises, welfare checks and intoxication.
After four years the new department has responded to more than 120,000 calls for service, with over 85% of them diverted away from Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and Albuquerque Fire Rescue, the city announced in September.
Last December, Allegheny County officials announced the launch of an Alternative Response program. It created a fourth branch of emergency services, referred to as the A-Team, that could respond to 911 calls either in tandem with police or as an alternative to law enforcement. It was initially launched in three Pittsburgh suburbs, according to the county.
In Pittsburgh itself, the city created a program in 2023 where police officers and mental health professionals were dispatched together in patrol cars to behavioral-health calls. But the city decided recently to overhaul the program, opting to send clinicians and cops separately.
The change is so that police or fire aren’t tied up on scene if they’re not needed.
Now, pairs of mental health professionals will form crisis response teams that can drive themselves to seeds, rather than buddying up with officers, WESA 90.5 reports. They would respond after police make sure a scene is safe. The program was set to relaunch in November.
Durham’s HEART program integrates clinicians directly into its 911 center. According to the city, clinicians triage calls involving mental health concerns and divert appropriate ones away from police.
11ABC in Durham reports that the HEART program had responded to more than 26,000 emergency calls between its launch in 2022 and March 2025.
Durham also deploys unarmed Community Response Teams — made up of clinicians, EMTs and peer-support staff — to certain non-violent emergencies. A co-responder model pairs a clinician with a Crisis Intervention Team-trained officer for calls requiring police involvement, according to the city.
Evanston’s launched its own Alternative Response Team in 2024, and sends a mental-health clinician and community paramedic to 911 calls involving behavioral-health crises, substance use or welfare checks. Police join only when safety concerns demand it, the city says.
Evanston Roundtable reports that the team responded to 2,000 calls in its first year. The city was looking at expanding the team to provide 24/7 coverage.
Cleveland’s exact path forward is unclear, as some on city council want a standalone department, while Bibb would rather build out these services in an existing city department.
The legislation is expected to move ahead in early 2026.
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit cleveland.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
