[BoulderCouncilHotline] Mental health support and the Crisis Intervention Program

[Firnhaber, Kurt]

Dear HOTLINE followers,



As more communities in the Front Range are developing behavioral health response programs, the public has been inundated with information about programs in other cities and counties across the state and country. We have heard from some community members that there is confusion about the resources that are available locally, how these services address behavior crises and how community members can access response services.



The Housing and Human Services Department (HHS) recently launched the Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT) in partnership with Boulder Police Department (BPD). This team of licensed mental health clinicians is managed by HHS and housed at BPD and are dispatched with police to incidents within the city. Separate but similar programs are run by Boulder County and the City of Longmont.

HHS staff has developed a FAQ guide<https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/52516> to answer common questions that business owners and community members have been asking, when they believe a community member needs assistance. This guide also distinguishes this program, which addresses behavioral health crisis interventions, from services just for those experiencing homelessness in Boulder. Although CIRT serves both housed and unhoused community members experiencing behavioral health crisis, it is not a homeless outreach program and the majority of CIRT clients are housed. For information on homelessness outreach programs please visit, Boulder Targeted Homelessness Engagement and Referral Effort (BTHERE)<https://bouldercolorado.gov/hhs/bthere> and the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT)<https://bouldercolorado.gov/police/homeless-outreach-team>.



According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, mental illness is experienced by 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. with 1 in 20 experiencing a serious mental health disorder. As we have seen in the news, police officers are often the first to respond to situations regardless of the need for police intervention. This program aims to provide the right assistance to individuals in crisis and to help avoid unnecessary legal consequences or involuntary hospitalization for those in crisis.



Please see the following resources for more details on this program. If you have specific question, please reach out to Wendy Schwartz, Human Services Policy Manager, 303-519-5420 or email: SchwartzW at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:SchwartzW at bouldercolorado.gov>

https://bouldercolorado.gov/hhs/cirt

Concerning Behavioral Health Situations and Incidents - FAQs<https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/52516>

In partnership,

Kurt

Kurt Firnhaber
Director of Housing and Human Services
[https://bouldercolorado.gov/links/fetch/41501]
O: # 303-441-4424
C: # 303-917-0914
FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov<mailto:FirnhaberK at bouldercolorado.gov>
Department of Housing & Human Services
1300 Canyon Blvd  Boulder, CO 80302
Bouldercolorado.gov<https://www.bouldercolorado.gov/>


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