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