Hennepin County’s Mental Health Response Team: A Year of Success and What’s Next

Hennepin County’s social workers and North Memorial Health paramedics have been successfully responding to mental health calls in the community through the Alternative Response Team project. The program has been a significant effort, and Inspector Elliot Faust stated that getting it up and running has been a major milestone. The data collected so far indicates that the program is making a real impact on mental health calls received by the police department.

The partnership between healthcare and law enforcement officials was announced a year ago, and the program was initially set to end on December 31, 2024. However, due to its success, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners recently extended the timeline through the end of 2026. Faust expressed enthusiasm about the extension and highlighted the decrease in mental health calls received by the police department for the first time in years. After a steady increase in mental health calls over the past five years, there was a drop from 1,291 calls in 2022 to 1,096 calls in 2023. Faust acknowledged that it is too early to establish a direct causal link, but there is definitely a correlation between the work of the Alternative Response Team and the decline in calls.

Looking ahead, Faust hopes to expand the unit’s operating hours beyond regular business hours to accommodate the high demand for their services. He emphasized the team’s busy schedule and the need to continue moving forward with this initiative. With this expansion, more people will have access to mental health resources when they need them most.