Emergency mental health co-responders reduce involuntary psychiatric detentions in the USA.

ABSTRACT: Historical efforts to deinstitutionalize those experiencing mental illness in the USA have inadvertently positioned police officers as the typical first responders to emergency calls involving mental health crises and empower them to initiate involuntary psychiatric detentions. Although potentially lifesaving, such detentions are controversial and costly, and they may be medically inappropriate for some of those detained. Here we present evidence from two quasi-experimental designs on the causal effects of a 'co-responder' programme that pairs mental health professionals with police officers as first responders on qualified emergency calls. The results indicate that a co-responder programme reduced the frequency of involuntary psychiatric detentions by 16.5% (that is, 370 fewer detentions

SUBMITTER: Dee TS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12846909 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature