District Of Columbia 2025-2026 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill PR26-0108 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
2	2	The John A. Wilson Building
3	3	1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
4	4	Washington, D.C. 20004
5	5
6	6
7	7
8	8
9	9	Statement of Introduction
10	10	Sense of the Council on Supporting Humane and Trauma-Informed Responses to
11	11	Behavioral Health Crises Resolution of 2025
12	12	February 28, 2025
13	13
14	14	Today, I am pleased to introduce the Sense of the Council on Supporting Humane and Trauma-
15	15	Informed Responses to Behavioral Health Crises Resolution of 2025, along with Chairman Phil
16	16	Mendelson and Councilmembers Charles Allen, Anita Bonds, Wendell Felder, Matthew Frumin,
17	17	Janeese Lewis George, Kenyan R. McDuffie, Brianne Nadeau, Zachary Parker, Brooke Pinto,
18	18	and Robert C. White, Jr. This resolution calls for a more coordinated and effective response to
19	19	behavioral health crises in the District—one that prioritizes care over criminalization and ensures
20	20	that behavioral health emergencies receive the same urgency and quality of response as physical
21	21	health emergencies. Every individual in crisis deserves timely, trauma-informed care from
22	22	culturally and community-competent behavioral health professionals.
23	23
24	24	Despite the availability of alternatives, most individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis
25	25	in the District still call 911 or seek care in hospital emergency departments, where they often
26	26	face prolonged wait times for treatment or admission. When individuals call 911, the D.C. Office
27	27	of Unified Communications (OUC) frequently dispatches the Metropolitan Police Department
28	28	(MPD) to these incidents. In 2022, MPD was sent to over 36,000 behavioral health crisis calls,
29	29	whereas the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) Community Response Team (CRT)—
30	30	which is staffed by trained clinicians and behavioral health specialists—responded to just 5,671
31	31	calls in FY 2024, with 3,459 interventions. In FY 2024, there were 294,439 substance use and
32	32	psychiatric emergency department visits, according to the DC Hospital Association.
33	33
34	34	The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recommends a
35	35	crisis response system that ensures three key elements: someone to talk to, someone to respond,
36	36	and a place to go. While the District operates behavioral health crisis services, critical gaps
37	37	remain:
38	38
39	39	Someone to Talk To: DBH runs two 24/7 crisis helplines—988 and the Access Helpline—
40	40	staffed by certified behavioral health providers. However, delays in answering these calls have
41	41	led to missed opportunities for diversion from 911, resulting in MPD dispatches instead of the
42	42	DBH CRT. A 2021 pilot program to divert behavioral health calls to DBH had limited success,
43	43	rerouting only 657 calls over two years—a small fraction of the total need.
44	44
45	45	Someone to Respond: The CRT and ChAMPS (Child and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric
46	46	Service) provide mobile crisis response, yet response times remain inconsistent. While DBH also
47	47	Christina Henderson Committee Member
48	48	Councilmember, At-Large Facilities
49	49	Chairperson, Committee on Health Human Services
50	50	Transportation and the Environment
51	51	COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
52	52	The John A. Wilson Building
53	53	1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, nw
54	54	Washington, D.C. 20004
55	55
56	56
57	57	operates a co-response team with MPD, which pairs officers with behavioral health specialists, it
58	58	only operates during weekday daytime hours. The District must ensure these teams have the
59	59	capacity to respond to crises as urgently as the District Fire and Emergency Medical Service
60	60	Department (within 5 to 9 minutes for high-priority calls) and can provide services in multiple
61	61	languages, including ASL.
62	62
63	63	A Place to Go: The District’s existing crisis stabilization infrastructure is inadequate. While
64	64	DBH provides same-day urgent care at 35 K Street, NE, and operates the Comprehensive
65	65	Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), concerns persist about the quality of care and the
66	66	facility environment. Residents in crisis need more options beyond hospitalization, including
67	67	community-based crisis beds, short-term observation beds, and respite centers where individuals
68	68	can receive care in a dignified and supportive setting.
69	69
70	70	The Sense of the Council urges the Mayor to take the following actions to strengthen the
71	71	District’s crisis response system:
72	72	• Improve crisis call operations by ensuring that at least 90% of calls diverted from OUC to
73	73	DBH are answered within 15-20 seconds by 2027, reducing MPD involvement when there is
74	74	no imminent safety threat.
75	75	• Implement a “warm handoff” policy for 988 and the Access Helpline, ensuring that call
76	76	center staff stay on the line until a provider is reached and that follow-up occurs within 48
77	77	hours when needed.
78	78	• Enhance OUC training so operators can better identify behavioral health crises and ensure
79	79	MPD is dispatched only when there is an imminent risk of harm.
80	80	• Expand and properly resource mobile crisis teams, ensuring that the CRT and ChAMPS can
81	81	respond to high-priority calls within 5 to 9 minutes and efficiently handle lower-priority
82	82	calls.
83	83	• Invest in crisis stabilization options, including community-based crisis beds, short-term
84	84	observation units, and respite centers to provide alternatives to hospitalization.
85	85	• Ensure individuals with behavioral health disabilities have a say in their crisis care by
86	86	allowing them to specify preferred responses from first responders, as recommended by the
87	87	D.C. Police Reform Commission.
88	88
89	89	This resolution urges the Mayor to take decisive action to improve crisis response services,
90	90	reduce unnecessary police involvement, and expand access to trauma-informed care. The
91	91	Council remains committed to ensuring that behavioral health emergencies are treated with the
92	92	urgency, dignity, and expertise they deserve.
93	93
94	94
95	95	______________________________ ______________________________ 1
96	96	Chairman Phil Mendelson Councilmember Christina Henderson 2
97	97	3
98	98	4
99	99	______________________________ ______________________________ 5
100	100	Councilmember Anita Bonds Councilmember Charles Allen 6
101	101	7
102	102	8
103	103	______________________________ ______________________________ 9
104	104	Councilmember Matthew Frumin Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 10
105	105	11
106	106	12
107	107	______________________________ ______________________________ 13
108	108	Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau 14
109	109	15
110	110	16
111	111	______________________________ ______________________________ 17
112	112	Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie Councilmember Zachary Parker 18
113	113	19
114	114	20
115	115	______________________________ ______________________________ 21
116	116	Councilmember Wendell Felder Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. 22
117	117	23
118	118	24
119	119	25
120	120	A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 26
121	121	27
122	122	28
123	123	29
124	124	IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 30
125	125	31
126	126	32
127	127	33
128	128	To declare the sense of the Council that the Mayor should adopt humane and trauma-informed 34
129	129	approaches for responding to behavioral health crises that prioritize the dispatch of 35
130	130	behavioral health professionals as the default first responders. 36
131	131	37
132	132	RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 38
133	133	resolution may be cited as the “Sense of the Council on Supporting Humane and Trauma-39
134	134	Informed Responses to Behavioral Health Crises Resolution of 2025”. 40
135	135	Sec. 2. The Council finds that: 41
136	136
137	137	42
138	138	(1) The District has residents that experience behavioral health crises that require 43
139	139	a response that is equal in urgency and quality to that of physical health emergencies. According 44
140	140	to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a behavioral health crisis is “any situation in 45
141	141	which a person’s behavior puts them at risk of hurting themselves or others and/or prevents them 46
142	142	from being able to care for themselves or function effectively in the community.” Anyone can 47
143	143	experience a behavioral health crisis. 48
144	144	(2) According to the DC Hospital Association, in FY 2024, there were 294,439 49
145	145	substance use and psychiatric emergency department visits. 50
146	146	(3) According to the D.C. Police Reform Commission, approximately 20% of 51
147	147	District residents experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity also have an undiagnosed or 52
148	148	untreated mental illness and/or substance use disorder. These individuals are less likely to 53
149	149	receive a proper diagnosis and treatment, more likely to rely on emergency rooms instead of 54
150	150	specialists for care, and more likely to encounter police rather than behavioral health 55
151	151	professionals during a crisis. 56
152	152	(4) Individuals, both adults and youth, experiencing behavioral health crises 57
153	153	deserve care that is person-centered, trauma-informed, and provided by behavioral health 58
154	154	professionals equipped to de-escalate crises and connect individuals to appropriate services. 59
155	155	(5) Reducing law enforcement involvement in behavioral health crises in the 60
156	156	District minimizes the risk of escalation, unnecessary hospitalization, and criminalization, while 61
157	157	improving outcomes for those needing care. Currently, however, a behavioral health crisis in the 62
158	158	District typically results in a Metropolitan Police Department (“MPD”) response, rather than the 63
159	159	dispatch of trained behavioral health specialists. 64
160	160
161	161	(6) In the District, most individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis call 65
162	162	911. The Office of Unified Communications (“OUC”) often dispatches MPD to these 66
163	163	incidents. In 2022, OUC dispatched MPD to over 36,000 calls to 911 that exclusively or 67
164	164	primarily involved behavioral health crises emergency response. In contrast, during FY 2024, the 68
165	165	Department of Behavioral Health's (“DBH”) Community Response Team received and 69
166	166	responded to 5,671 calls, resulting in 3,459 interventions. Effective coordination between OUC 70
167	167	and DBH, including increased DBH training of OUC call operators, is critical to ensure that 71
168	168	behavioral health crises are met with trained behavioral health professionals rather than law 72
169	169	enforcement, except in situations involving weapons or an imminent safety threat. 73
170	170	(7) DBH operates 2 24/7 helplines: (1) 988 and (2) the Access Helpline. Both are 74
171	171	staffed by certified behavioral health providers who are tasked with aiding with emergency 75
172	172	psychiatric care, helping individuals determine the need for ongoing behavioral health services, 76
173	173	and providing information about available resources. 77
174	174	(8) Data indicates that calls to 911 are frequently not diverted to DBH 78
175	175	appropriately due to delays in the DBH Access Helpline answering, resulting in calls returning to 79
176	176	the OUC and the subsequent dispatch of MPD officers. While a behavioral health diversion pilot 80
177	177	program launched in 2021 aimed to route behavioral health calls from the OUC to the DBH 81
178	178	Access Helpline or 988, the initiative only diverted approximately 657 behavioral health calls in 82
179	179	FY2021 and FY2022. Further, according to OUC, in December 2024, OUC operators 83
180	180	experienced a 79% failure rate in transferring 911 behavioral health calls to the DBH Access 84
181	181	Helpline, with only 7 of 36 attempted transfers being answered. 85
182	182	(9) The DBH Community Response Team is a 24 hour, 7 days a week team that is 86
183	183	comprised of licensed clinicians, peers, and behavioral health specialists who provide telephonic 87
184	184
185	185	and in person clinical response to crisis calls. DBH also operates the Child and Adolescent 88
186	186	Mobile Psychiatric Service (“ChAMPS”), an emergency response service for children, teenagers 89
187	187	and youth if they are in the care and custody of the Child and Family Services Agency and are 90
188	188	experiencing a behavioral health crisis. MPD and DBH also have a co-response team, established 91
189	189	in 2023, where officers are matched with behavioral health specialists who respond to behavioral 92
190	190	health crises Monday through Friday during the day. 93
191	191	(10) While DBH offers same-day urgent care at 35 K Street, NE, and operates the 94
192	192	Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (“CPEP”), an emergency psychiatric facility 95
193	193	intended to provide support and treatment during behavioral health crises, there are ongoing 96
194	194	challenges. In 2023, CPEP conducted 3,343 assessments and initiated 1,057 hospitalizations. 97
195	195	However, residents and healthcare professionals have raised significant concerns about the 98
196	196	physical environment and quality of care at these facilities. 99
197	197	(11) District residents’ reliance on 911 over 988 reflects a lack of general 100
198	198	awareness of 988, the Access Helpline, ChAMPS, and the Community Response Team and the 101
199	199	services they provide. These resources are intended to, despite how they currently function, 102
200	200	connect people with crisis response services, a range of behavioral health providers, and 103
201	201	immediate behavioral health counseling and support, yet individuals still need to navigate a 104
202	202	behavioral health bureaucracy that is intimidating to many. A comprehensive and ongoing public 105
203	203	awareness campaign about the services they provide would strengthen the behavioral health 106
204	204	crisis response system in the District. 107
205	205	(12) In 2021, the D.C. Police Reform Commission recommended that culturally 108
206	206	and community-competent behavioral healthcare professionals be the default first responders to 109
207	207	911 calls involving individuals in crisis and that these crises should be met with specialized 110
208	208
209	209	intervention and skillful de-escalation rather than forced compliance and arrest. The Commission 111
210	210	also recommended that these behavioral healthcare professionals have a regular presence in 112
211	211	communities and conduct proactive outreach to residents in need. 113
212	212	(13) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 114
213	213	(“SAMHSA”) is the federal agency responsible for research and public health initiatives related 115
214	214	to behavioral health. As recommended by SAMHSA, the minimum level of care for someone 116
215	215	going through a behavioral health crisis includes having someone to talk to; someone to respond; 117
216	216	and a place to go. 118
217	217	(14) The Mayor should improve operations and ensure that the Access HelpLine 119
218	218	and 988 have adequate training and staffing so that at least 90% of calls diverted to DBH from 120
219	219	OUC are answered within 15 to 20 seconds by 2027, thereby minimizing MPD involvement 121
220	220	when there is no imminent threat of harm. 122
221	221	(15) The Mayor should ensure that callers to 988 and the Access Helpline, 123
222	222	including those diverted from 911, receive a “warm handoff” when referred to outpatient 124
223	223	services. Call center staff should remain on the line while connecting callers to providers and 125
224	224	should not disconnect until the caller is speaking with a provider staff member who can schedule 126
225	225	an intake appointment. If call volume prevents this, staff should follow up within 48 hours to 127
226	226	confirm that the caller has secured an appointment. 128
227	227	(16) The Mayor should ensure that OUC operators have enhanced training to 129
228	228	better identify behavioral health calls, ensuring MPD is dispatched only when there is an 130
229	229	imminent risk of harm to self or others. 131
230	230	(17) The Mayor should ensure that the Community Response Team and ChAMPS 132
231	231	have adequate resources to respond to high priority behavioral health crises within 5 to 9 133
232	232
233	233	minutes, the same goal set for the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS), 134
234	234	and to efficiently respond to lower priority calls. These teams should also have the necessary 135
235	235	language skills to communicate effectively with non-English speakers and Deaf and Hard of 136
236	236	Hearing individuals. 137
237	237	(18) The Mayor should invest in crisis and stabilization options throughout the 138
238	238	city, and to expand the number of community-based crisis beds where individuals can stay for 1-139
239	239	2 weeks and receive professional behavioral health services, observation beds where individuals 140
240	240	can receive voluntary behavioral health services for shorter periods of 23 to 72 hours, and respite 141
241	241	centers where individuals can visit or stay temporarily shortly after a crisis, or when they are at 142
242	242	risk of a crisis. 143
243	243	(19) The Mayor should reduce the trauma and indignity of crisis care by allowing 144
244	244	people with behavioral health disabilities to specify how frontline responders should treat them 145
245	245	in crisis, as the D.C. Police Reform Commission recommended in 2021. 146
246	246	Sec. 3. It is the sense of the Council that the Mayor should ensure parity between 147
247	247	behavioral and physical health by guaranteeing that individuals experiencing behavioral health 148
248	248	crises receive timely, appropriate care from trained behavioral health professionals. The Mayor 149
249	249	should prioritize humane and trauma-informed approaches to support District residents in crisis, 150
250	250	recognizing the urgency of these situations and committing sufficient resources to safeguard their 151
251	251	well-being. 152
252	252	Sec. 4. The Council shall transmit a copy of this resolution, upon its adoption, to the 153
253	253	Mayor, Director of the Department of Behavioral Health, Director of the Department of Health, 154
254	254	Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Medical Examiner, and the Chief of the Fire 155
255	255	and Emergency Medical Services Department. 156
256	256
257	257	Sec. 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 157