Providence, Rhode Island

The Providence Police Department (PPD), in partnership with The Providence Center (TPC), formed a Behavioral Health Response Team that aims to divert individuals with behavioral health needs into appropriate treatment settings and/or case management. The project responded to high rates of arrest for low-level crime and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) utilization among individuals with both a significant “street presence” (e.g., chronically homeless) and co-occurring substance use and/or mental health disorders.

In order to formalize and enhance existing diversion efforts, PPD took on additional clinical and case management team members who were responsible for providing on-scene assessment and referral as well as follow-up case management to aid in diversion efforts and to maintain people in treatment. In addition, PPD worked with their evaluation partners at Roger Williams University to identify Providence citizens at high-risk for arrest by analyzing arrest and EMS data, as well as the districts of the city with the highest rates of behavioral health-related arrests and emergency calls/transports. These high-risk individuals were targeted for diversion into case management.