Phoenix has doubled number of emergency calls taken by mental health units
Staffing has increased from 5 to 9 teams this year
(Courtesy city of Phoenix)
Mary Prado, left, and two other crisis intervention specialists with the Phoenix Community Assistance Program, which provides mental health specialists to respond to emergency calls instead of or in addition to police, pose for a photo in front of a van.
The city of Phoenix’s Behavioral Health Units, which respond to some emergency calls instead of police, have doubled their capacity during the past year.
The units have responded to 102% more calls in the first seven months 2025 compared with the same time in 2024. They have also reached 24/7 coverage across the city and nearly doubled staffing during the past seven months.
Phoenix has had a form of their Crisis Response Units, teams of mental health specialists who will accompany police or fire to an emergency incident, since 1995. In 2022, the city added Behavioral Health Units, which most often respond solo to mental health-related emergencies.
“Community feedback made it clear that there was a strong need for options beyond traditional police and fire response, particularly in situations where individuals’ primary needs were mental health or substance use,” said Community Assistance Program Administrator D.C. Ernst during a city council meeting Tuesday.
Stephanie Smith, a district coordinator in Phoenix’s Community Assistance Program, speaks about the program in a city of Phoenix video.
(Courtesy city of Phoenix)
The Community Assistance Program, or CAP, oversees both the behavioral health and crisis response units.
Ernst updated that three Behavioral Health Units were onboarded in June, achieving the goal of nine units and 24/7 coverage. Including another unit that was added in February, expanding the program from five to nine units this year.
CAP exceeded the goal of reaching full staffing by early 2026. The program had prioritized hiring for Behavioral Health Units before hiring for Crisis Response Units. The latter have six units out of a goal of 10 staffed.
Crisis Response Units are nearly at 24/7 coverage, covering 24 hours on weekdays and 22 on weekends. Ernst said she expects to hit 24/7 coverage for the units by the first quarter of calendar year 2026. Crisis Response Units’ calls for service have remained relatively steady this year, up just 8% over 2024.
Kesha Hodge Washington
“I do believe a significant number of the problems that we see are individuals that are dealing with behavioral or substance abuse issues that need a professional touch,” Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington said during the meeting.
More than half of the Behavioral Health Units’ calls for service come from 911 calls transferred to the CAP team. The number of transferred calls increased by 98% in 2025 compared with last year.
A behavioral health dispatcher under the Phoenix Community Assistance Program is photographed at his desk.
(Courtesy city of Phoenix)
Ernst attributed that to three factors: behavioral health dispatcher staffing reaching 24/7 coverage as of March 31, recently increasing the number of hours a CAP supervisor is staffed with the police communications team from 31 to 41 hours per week, and CAP working with Phoenix Police to release police department-wide training that guided sworn personnel and communications staff on how and when to request a Behavioral Health Unit.
In July, the most recent month of full data, Behavioral Health Units responded to emergencies solo on 73% of their calls. They respond with police on 11%, with fire on 14% and with both on 2%.
Crisis Response Units in July responded solo to just 10% of their emergency calls. They responded with police on 15% of their calls, with fire on 27% and with both on 48%. The units typically accompany police or fire on emergency calls involving traumatic incidents such as house fires, unexpected deaths, domestic violence and child abuse investigations.
Both the behavioral health and crisis response units have averaged under 25-minute response times. In July, the most recent month of data, the Crisis Response Team matched its record of a 21-minute average and the Behavioral Health Unit set a new record with a 19-minute average.
There is no national standard for response times for alternative response units, Ernst said, but the city’s collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School of Government Performance Lab indicates Phoenix’s average response times are comparable to other jurisdictions offering similar services.
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@iniusa.org.
Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.
Community: Mark enjoys taking his two young sons to parks, the Phoenix Zoo, the Phoenix Public Library and other fun events around the Valley. He also participates in a local book club.
Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.
Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.
Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, sons and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.
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