Reframing Mental Health Crisis Response: Building Evidence Without Law Enforcement at the Core

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Criminology
• Mental Health Services Research

Background:

• Growing concerns exist regarding the overuse of police in mental health crises.
• Various alternative response models have been implemented, including Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training, co-responder models, and mobile crisis units.
• Existing research often centers law enforcement, with limited understanding of diverse crisis response models' effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current landscape of mental health crisis response models beyond traditional policing.
• To identify limitations in research and data hindering the evaluation of these alternative models.
• To explore the potential for shifting crisis systems away from law enforcement defaults.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and synthesis of existing research on mental health crisis response.
• Analysis of common response models: police-only, CIT, co-responder, and mobile crisis.
• Identification of research gaps concerning data availability, standardization, and operational definitions.

Main Results:

• The body of research on the effectiveness of alternative mental health crisis response models is still developing.
• Significant limitations exist in data, standardized language, measurement, and operational definitions across studies.
• Clarity regarding inter-agency partnerships within these models is often lacking.

Conclusions:

• Current research limitations obscure the understanding of implemented models and their community functions.
• Addressing these limitations is crucial for evaluating and optimizing mental health crisis response.
• There is an opportunity to develop crisis systems prioritizing mental health support without routine law enforcement involvement.