A pilot program intended to change the way Oak Park responds to some emergency calls may be delayed after village trustees sent the plans back for review. Trustees asked staff to evaluate concerns about a divided response between village-employed mental health professionals and Thrive Counseling Center employees.
The proposed two-year pilot is called an “alternative response to calls for service” program that sends trained staff in addition to, or sometimes in place of, police to mental-health crises and other low-level 911 calls.
In 2023, a village taskforce presented recommendations about how to respond to such calls. Trustees later allocated $1.1 million for the pilot program.
The idea comes amid a nationwide effort in which municipalities are reviewing what policing means for them, particularly as they address mental health crises.
“A traditional law enforcement response is likely to have a disproportionate effect on marginalized communities, including people of color or lower socio-economic status,” Oak Park village officials wrote.
The proposed model was put together with input from the taskforce, board goals, Illinois’ Community Emergency Services and Supports Act and the BerryDunn Community Safety study which the village commissioned. It was presented to the Board of Trustees for the first time April 30.
At the meeting, some community members and mental health professionals said they’d prefer to see the village work more closely with Thrive Counseling Center, a local nonprofit, rather than creating a new program. The police department has long had a contractual relationship with Thrive.
How the proposed program would work
The proposal takes a four-pronged approach, covering responses to low-risk and high-risk mental health calls, as well as community care navigation and non-mental health related calls.
Under the proposed plan, an internal team of mental health professionals or community service officers would respond to calls, with police and fire departments, when necessary. These calls could be from 911 or to the village directly.
- For a low-risk mental health call, a team would include a mental health provider, peer support specialist, paramedic and/or police officer. This team could respond to calls about a fall, a noise complaint or a confused person.
- For high-risk mental health calls, the responding team would include a village-employed licensed mental health provider, paramedic and police officer. Issues they would cover include calls about overdoses, domestic disturbances or suicidal ideation.
- The community care navigation team would follow-up with services for residents who have already engaged with the other teams. It would include a village-employed mental health provider and peer support specialist.
- The final team would respond to non-mental health related calls that do not require a sworn police officer. A sworn police officer carries a gun and has arrest power. A non-sworn officer has neither. Consisting of unarmed community service officers, the team would respond to calls related to parking or other violations.
The village teams would operate for 10 hours daily under this plan, during what the village said would be “peak call hours.” Thrive, a comprehensive mental health center, would respond to calls, when necessary, the other 14 hours of the day.
Overall, the plan would add nine employees to the village staff. Kira Tchang, the village’s human resources director, said the village would make it a priority to hire someone with mental health expertise to oversee the program. The pilot team members would not report to the police chief, Tchang said, addressing a concern about independent mental health assessment.
Social workers and peer support specialists on the teams would be sent to the scene separately from the police department. Village officials estimated they would spend about $80,000 on two new vehicles for the program, Tchang said.
The proposed pilot contains components to define “mental health crisis,” to train staff, and to educate the community about how to recognize a mental health crisis. The focus, too, will be on equity and inclusivity in all approaches.
A launch had been tentatively planned for the fall but may be pushed back given feedback.
Questions and concerns
Five residents, most of whom said they have experience as mental health professionals, expressed concerns about the proposal during public comment.
They asked the board to consider bolstering their partnership with Thrive, since their employees already respond to these types of calls. The separation between Thrive and the village-employed teams duplicates work and has the potential to create a disconnected response system, they said.
Cheryl Potts, executive director of Oak Park Township’s Community Mental Health Board, and Jennifer Rook, executive director of Thrive, echoed the staffing concerns.
“While we [the taskforce] commend the Oak Park Police Department goal to have 100% of officers be crisis-intervention trained, data shows individuals who self-select to be part of a crisis team are actually most effective,” said Potts, who co-chaired the alternative response taskforce.
The village already holds a $160,000 contract per year with Thrive, Rook said, to provide services. Thrive’s contract with the village is up in October 2024, unless it’s extended.
“Right now, we [Thrive] have a pulse on all of the crisis calls in the community,” Rook said. “So, it concerns us to pull that away and then ensure the integrity of the program and that the mental health support won’t be jeopardized.”
Gabrielle Pendley, who spoke during the public comment section, raised the concern that residents may prefer help from an independent mental health clinician rather than a village-employed one.
Tchang said the village-employed social workers would not provide counseling or ongoing relationships with individuals. Rather, they would provide a rapid response to 911 and other calls, when appropriate, and connect individuals with resources like Thrive.
“We do not view ourselves as a counseling center,” Tchang said. “Our police officers do an exceptional job trying to educate the community about services that may be available to them, but they are short staffed.”
911 calls cannot legally go directly to Thrive, either. Calls would have to go from dispatch to the village, which is required to respond to all 911 calls, to Thrive. This could delay response time to an individual in need.
According to Police Chief Shatonya Johnson, Thrive sometimes takes up to an hour to get to the scene. Rook disagreed, and said they typically respond within 15 to 30 minutes.
The police’s primary concern is safety, Johnson said. After officers ensure a situation is safe, they disengage and allow the appropriate professionals to deal with it, she said.
“I’m excited about this opportunity to collaborate and to make sure that we’re servicing the community to the best of our ability to ensure that the police isn’t causing any harm or have the potential to cause harm,” Johnson said.
The village is also working to make residents aware of the 988 hotline which connects callers to mental health support services through Thrive directly. If more 911 calls will be diverted to 988, where Thrive will respond, Potts questioned if it would be more prudent to bolster that partnership instead.
Village Manager Kevin Jackson said staff will re-evaluate the proposal, taking into consideration the concerns that were raised.
“This is exactly what we’re shooting for, is better integration,” he said. “Right now, [our response] is kind of fragmented.”
Village staff had expected to present a resolution for board approval in May. That timeline is now likely to be pushed back.
