Read the full stored bill text
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
1
A RESOLUTION
26-284
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
December 16, 2025
To declare the sense of the Council that behavioral health crises in the District deserve an urgent
and quality response and that the Mayor should make the appropriate budgetary and
personnel investments in the current system so that the multi-agency response to
behavioral health crises is sufficiently resourced and staffed consistent with national best
practices.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Sense of the Council on Supporting Humane and Trauma-
Informed Responses to Behavioral Health Crises Resolution of 2025”.
Sec. 2. (a) The Council finds that:
(1)(A) Behavioral health crises in the District deserve a high quality and urgent
response.
(B) According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (“NAMI”), a
behavioral health crisis is “any situation in which a person’s behavior puts them at risk of hurting
themselves or others and/or prevents them from being able to care for themselves or function
effectively in the community.” Anyone can experience a behavioral health crisis.
(C) District residents experience behavioral health crises, with response and
care coming from across our public safety and health ecosystem. In 2022, the Metropolitan Police
Department (“MPD”) responded to over 36,000 behavioral health crisis calls. In FY 2024, the
Department of Behavioral Health’s (“DBH”) Community Response Team (“CRT”), which is
staffed by trained clinicians and behavioral health specialists, responded to 5,671 calls, resulting
in 3,459 interventions. These interventions included telephonic consultations with crisis
counselors, onsite behavioral health assessments, connections to support services, and harm
reduction measures such as the administration of life-saving naloxone while linking individuals
to appropriate treatment. According to data from the DC Hospital Association, there were
294,439 substance use and psychiatric emergency department visits in FY 2024. Additionally,
according to the Office of Unified Communications’s (“OUC”) FY 2024 performance oversight
responses, the DC 911 call center received a reported 683 mental health calls in FY 2024.
(D) There are varying contributing factors to behavioral health problems
and crises. Socio-economic insecurity can adversely impact an individual’s mental and
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
2
behavioral health, compounding difficulties in accessing care and further heightening
vulnerability. According to the DC Police Reform Commission report, Decentering Police to
Improve Public Safety: A report of the DC Police Reform Commission, published on April 1,
2021, approximately 20% of District residents experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity
also have an undiagnosed or untreated mental illness or substance use disorder. These individuals
are less likely to receive a proper diagnosis and treatment, more likely to rely on emergency
rooms instead of specialists for care, and less likely to encounter a behavioral health professional
during a crisis.
(E) In addition to individuals experiencing homelessness, other District
residents face significant barriers to accessing timely and appropriate behavioral-health care during
moments of crisis. Spanish-speaking and Latine residents experience higher rates of poor mental-
health outcomes and face linguistic and cultural barriers that impede their ability to engage with the
behavioral-health system. According to the District’s 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
Survey, Hispanic residents reported a higher proportion of days when their mental health was not
good compared with the citywide average, reflecting unmet need and limited access to culturally
and linguistically appropriate services. The Council further recognizes that residents of Wards 7
and 8 are disproportionately burdened by behavioral-health conditions, with rates of depressive
disorders as high as 25%, substantially above rates observed in higher-income wards, and fewer
nearby treatment options or crisis-stabilization resources. These inequities underscore the need for
targeted investment in community-based behavioral-health infrastructure, including bilingual
providers, mobile crisis response teams, and neighborhood-level crisis alternatives in the eastern
portions of the District.
(F) The District has a shortage of emergency treatment and long-term care
support for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. There are ongoing challenges at the
Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (“CPEP”) that need to be addressed. In 2023,
CPEP conducted 3,343 assessments and initiated 1,057 hospitalizations. However, residents and
healthcare professionals have raised significant concerns about the physical environment and
quality of care at these facilities.
(2)(A) The District’s public safety and public health ecosystem is a complex
interplay of cross-agency action, information-sharing, and coordination among OUC, MPD, DBH,
and the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (“Fire and EMS”) for crisis response
and care.
(B)(i) OUC houses and manages the DC 911 call center, playing both a
conduit role in connecting callers with appropriate resources and a first-responsive role in
intaking and dispatching emergency or police services.
(ii) When a caller expresses suicidal ideation “without injury,
illness, means, or immediate threat,” OUC recommends resources such as the DBH Access Help
Line or the 988 Suicide and Crisis national hotline discussed below.
(iii) In other circumstances, OUC may coordinate with relevant
agencies to dispatch an emergency response team, either through DBH, MPD, or Fire and EMS,
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
3
depending on the relevant response-plan furnished to the agency.
(iv) OUC also maintains a Diversion Program Manager who works
alongside DBH and other diversion programs in coordination with the Department of Public
Works, the District Department of Transportation Non-Emergency Services, MPD’s Telephone
Reporting Unit, and the Fire and EMS Nurse Triage Line.
(C)(i) DBH has several programs to respond to behavioral health crises.
(ii) DBH operates 2 24/7 helplines: the 988 Suicide and Crisis
national hotline and the Access Helpline. Both are staffed by certified behavioral health providers
who are tasked with aiding with emergency psychiatric care, helping individuals determine the
need for ongoing behavioral health services, and providing information about available resources.
(iii) The DBH CRT is a 24 hour, 7 days a week team that is
comprised of licensed clinicians, peers, and behavioral health specialists who provide telephonic
and in-person clinical response to crisis calls.
(iv) DBH also operates the Child and Adolescent Mobile
Psychiatric Service (“ChAMPS”), an emergency response service for children, teenagers, and
youth if they are in the care and custody of the Child and Family Services Agency and are
experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
(v) MPD and DBH also partner to operate a Co-Response Team
model where Crisis Intervention officers (“CIO”) are matched with behavioral health specialists
who respond to behavioral health crises Monday through Friday during the day.
(vi) DBH offers same-day urgent care at 35 K Street, NE, and
operates CPEP, an emergency psychiatric facility intended to provide support and treatment
during behavioral health crises.
(D)(i) MPD operates a CIO program to support the Co-Response Team
(“COR”) model to respond to behavioral health crises.
(ii) Through the CIO program, officers choose to complete a 2-
year training program conducted by DBH to enhance officer skills in successfully defusing
critical incidents with individuals in crisis, including mental health crisis. As of January 31,
2024, MPD had 1,012 active CIOs––approximately 30% of the total number of sworn officers.
(iii) CIOs respond as part of the COR, where they are paired with
behavioral health specialists to allow for real-time immediate clinical assessment, strengthened
de-escalation techniques, and enhanced clinical knowledge of available services for the
individual who may need additional follow-up care.
(iv) This partnership has led to better outcomes, including that, as
of March 2025, the COR only made 58 arrests during its more than 1,600 engagements with
individuals in crisis since 2023. CIOs are assigned in all patrol districts, and, according to MPD
policy, on-duty CIOs, if available, will respond to any calls for service where the need to interact
with a mental health situation is likely. This may include responses outside of their patrol
district, if the district does not have an available CIO.
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
4
(E) Fire and EMS EMT training includes instructions on responding to
behavioral health crises, along with annual refresher training on how to respond in behavioral
health emergencies. Generally, it is understood that when EMS providers are dispatched to
scenes involving behavioral health crises, the provider should assess the situation to see if there
are any immediate threats, de-escalate situations of distress, provide any immediate medical care
for the individual’s physical health, and transport the individual to the appropriate facility.
(F) Hospitals play a vital role in the District’s crisis intervention system by
providing emergency medical and psychiatric care to individuals experiencing behavioral health
crises. In coordination with DBH, MPD, and OUC, District hospitals serve as critical access
points for stabilization, treatment, and referral to ongoing behavioral health services. Hospitals
offer 24/7 emergency services, including medical clearance, psychiatric evaluation, and inpatient
care when necessary, ensuring individuals in crisis receive timely and appropriate interventions.
By supporting the broader goals of the crisis response system, such as reducing harm, preventing
unnecessary incarceration, and facilitating connections to long-term care and recovery supports,
District hospitals are essential partners in the coordinated effort to respond to behavioral health
needs across the city.
(3)(A) Individuals, both adults and youth, experiencing behavioral health crises
deserve care that is person-centered, trauma-informed, and provided by behavioral health
professionals equipped to de-escalate crises and connect individuals to appropriate services.
(B) Providing the appropriate response to behavioral health crises can
minimize the risk of escalation, unnecessary hospitalization, and criminalization, while improving
outcomes for those needing care. This requires adequate staffing, resources, training, and
coordination across all relevant agencies involved in response and the care continuum. Currently,
the District has a shortage of staffing and resources to respond to behavioral health crises according
to best practices.
(C) The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(“SAMHSA”) is the federal agency responsible for research and public health initiatives related to
behavioral health. As recommended by SAMHSA, the minimum level of care for someone going
through a behavioral health crisis includes having someone to talk to, someone to respond, and a
place to go. While the District’s cross-agency response includes several elements and touchpoints
that meet these criteria with dedicated DBH personnel and a trained public safety work force,
current resources, staffing, and training need a more robust enhancement to satisfy best practices
consistently and optimally.
(D) Relatedly, in 2021, the DC Police Reform Commission recommended
that best practices for responding to behavioral health emergencies include in part that culturally
and community-competent behavioral healthcare professionals be first responders to 911 calls
involving individuals in crisis and that these crises should be met with specialized intervention and
skillful de-escalation rather than with forced compliance and arrest as the first and only means of
response. The Commission also recommended that best practices require that these behavioral
healthcare professionals have a regular presence in communities and conduct proactive outreach to
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
5
residents in need.
(E) Best practices suggest that behavioral health responses require that the
multi-agency response be sufficiently resourced and staffed, as informed by evidence-based and
trauma-informed policies, in order that behavioral health professionals, or those having received
appropriate behavioral health training, are on the scene to assist those in need.
(4) Current District resources are not sufficient to consistently meet best practices
for behavioral crisis response. Given the prevalence of behavioral health calls and concerns in the
District, it is imperative that the public safety and health response system be robustly resourced,
trauma-informed, evidence-based, and adequately staffed. Unfortunately, several service gaps
remain in the District to consistently meet best practices for behavioral health crisis response and
care.
(5)(A) Data indicates that the DBH Access Helpline is not answering when OUC
call takers transfer 911 calls to DBH, resulting in delays, calls returning to OUC, and the
subsequent dispatch of MPD officers.
(B) While a behavioral health diversion pilot program launched in 2021
aimed to route behavioral health calls from OUC to the DBH Access Helpline or 988, the
initiative only diverted approximately 657 behavioral health calls in FY 2021 and FY 2022.
(C) According to data-points shared by OUC with the Committee on the
Judiciary and Public Safety, in December 2024, the DBH Access Helpline failed to pick up
behavioral health calls transferred from OUC call takers 81% of the time, with only 7 of 29
attempted transfers being answered.
(b) The Council makes the following recommendations to ensure that District residents
and visitors have someone to talk to in the event of a behavioral health crisis:
(1) The Mayor should direct DBH to improve operations by ensuring that both the
Access Helpline and 988 are adequately staffed and supported, including:
(A) Implementing rigorous initial and ongoing training for call takers;
(B) Setting clear performance benchmarks;
(C) Allocating sufficient staffing and other resources to meet the goal of
answering at least 90% of calls diverted from the OUC within 15 to 20 seconds by 2027 along
with a plan to increase hiring and retention of staff through additional budgetary investments;
(D) Planning for increased call-taking capacity so that OUC can transfer
more calls to 988, the Access Helpline, CRT, and ChAMPS demonstrate increased capacity to
respond; and
(E) Staffing up CRT.
(2) The Mayor should ensure that callers to 988 and the Access Helpline,
including those diverted from 911, receive a “warm handoff” when referred to outpatient services
by ensuring that DBH is fully staffed and that interagency communication, agreements, and
information-sharing are implemented and maintained. Call center staff should remain on the line
while connecting callers to providers and should not disconnect until the caller is speaking with a
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
6
provider staff member who can schedule an intake appointment. If call volume prevents this,
staff should follow up within 48 hours to confirm that the caller has secured an appointment.
(3) DBH staff should maintain continued presence in the Computer-Aided
Dispatch (“CAD”) system to view and close events; and
(4) 988 and Access Helpline should answer at least 90% of calls transferred from
OUC within 15 to 20 seconds by 2027.
(c) The Council makes the following recommendations to the Mayor to ensure that
District residents and visitors have someone to respond in the event of a behavioral health crisis:
(1) Require OUC and DBH to formalize standards and procedures in the course of
regular communication between the OUC Diversion Program Manager and DBH leadership.
(2) Require OUC and DBH to partner in implementing training and refresher
sessions that use scenario-based, real question and answer call examples to strengthen
recognition of behavioral health calls and lead to updated PowerPhone prompts for OUC call
takers on DBH’s role, functions, and the diversion process;
(3) Require OUC to update its IT and credentialing system to ensure that
additional DBH personnel possess the necessary credentials to access OUC systems;
(4) Ensure that DBH personnels’ daily login activity is co-monitored by OUC and
DBH;
(5) Require DBH, as credentialed by OUC, to maintain a continuous presence in
the CAD system so that DBH personnel can appropriately monitor and close events in real time.
DBH’s access to the CAD in relevant cases will allow the personnel to operationalize knowledge
of CRT availability so that OUC call takers can be informed of when to engage and dispatch
these resources.
(6) Require OUC to share its meta-data and performance analysis of DBH
responses with MPD and Fire and EMS to identify potential areas of improvement across action
command. In turn, DBH, MPD, and Fire and EMS should furnish monthly response-plan updates
with immediate notification to OUC when ad hoc changes occur. If the agencies in question
cannot come to an interagency agreement among the relevant partners for these updates, then
Council should legislate requirements for this interagency action.
(7) Ensure that both CRT and ChAMPS are adequately staffed and equipped with
the necessary infrastructure to respond to high-priority behavioral health crises within an
appropriately urgent time. These teams should also be prepared to respond efficiently to lower-
priority calls. Equipment needs include vehicles, strategically located deployment sites, and up-
to-date technology.
(8) Ensure that CRT and ChAMPS have the language capacity to communicate
effectively with non-English speakers and individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This can
be achieved through bilingual staff, interpretation services, and accessible communication tools.
(9) Consider incorporating recommendations and suggestions from the Pre-Arrest
Diversion Task Force, established by the Secure DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2024,
ENROLLED ORIGINAL
7
effective June 8, 2024 (D.C. Law 25-175; 71 DCR 2732), and convened by the Criminal Justice
Coordinating Council, in any crisis response intervention plans developed after the Task Force
publishes its recommendations in July 2026.
(10) As the District increases its capacity to handle calls through 988 and the
Access Helpline and to provide services through ChAMPS and the Community Response Team,
implement a comprehensive and ongoing public awareness campaign about the services provided
through these programs to encourage resident uptake of these services.
(11) Support MPD to expand the COR so that any time an MPD officer needs to
respond to a mental health crisis, a CIO officer can be the one to show up. MPD’s policy
currently directs on-duty CIOs to respond in mental health instances if they are available; MPD
should prioritize increasing the number of CIOs so that availability is not an issue.
(d) To ensure that District residents and visitors have somewhere to go in the event of a
behavioral health crisis, the Council recommends that the Mayor make the following investments
in crisis and stabilization options throughout the District in her Fiscal Year 2027 proposed budget
request:
(1) Expand the number of community-based crisis beds where individuals can
stay for 1 to 2 weeks and receive professional behavioral health services;
(2) Expand the number of observation beds where individuals can receive
voluntary behavioral health services for shorter periods of 24 to 72 hours; and
(3) Expand the number of respite centers where individuals can visit or stay
temporarily either shortly after a crisis or when they are at risk of a crisis.
Sec. 3. It is the sense of the Council that the Mayor should seek to ensure that individuals
experiencing behavioral health crises receive timely, appropriate care from trained behavioral
health professionals through implementation of the recommendations outlined in section 2. The
Mayor should prioritize humane and trauma-informed approaches to support District residents in
crisis, recognizing the urgency of these situations and committing sufficient resources to
safeguard their well-being.
Sec. 4. The Council shall transmit a copy of this resolution, upon its adoption, to the
Mayor, Directors of the Department of Behavioral Health, Department of Health, and Office of
Unified Communications, the Chiefs of the Metropolitan Police Department and Fire and
Emergency Medical Services Department, and the Chief Medical Examiner.
Sec. 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately.