The Partners in Care program represents a pioneering collaboration between the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD), the Mental Health Cooperative, and various Metro government agencies. This initiative is strategically designed to enhance services for individuals within the community experiencing behavioral health crises. The core mission of Partners in Care is to revolutionize the accessibility of care for those undergoing such crises, effectively diverting individuals from the criminal justice system towards the health care system. Furthermore, the program prioritizes improving communication and coordination across all systems of care, thereby bolstering the safety of everyone involved in these critical interactions.
Central to the Partners in Care model is a specialized training regimen for participating officers. These officers undergo an intensive 40-hour Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training. This rigorous preparation equips them to work in tandem with master’s level clinicians from the Mental Health Cooperative. Complementing the officers’ training, each clinician engaged in this co-response program receives 16 hours of job-specific training, ensuring they are fully prepared for their crucial role.
Launched in June 2021, the Partners in Care program recently concluded its initial one-year pilot phase. The data collected during this pilot, conducted in the North and Hermitage precincts, has been remarkably positive. It strongly indicates that the program is successfully achieving its intended objectives.
During this crucial pilot phase, Partners in Care units responded to 1,344 service calls that met the criteria for crisis response. Significantly, these units maintained a notably low arrest rate of approximately 4%. Encouragingly, since the pilot phase concluded, this arrest rate has consistently remained below this 4% benchmark. These figures underscore the program’s commitment to prioritizing the connection of individuals in crisis with appropriate care. The data clearly demonstrates a successful diversion of these individuals away from the criminal justice system and towards the more suitable mental health care system.
Building on the success of the pilot, the Partners in Care Program is committed to employing data-driven strategies to ensure the provision of high-quality services to the community. Epidemiologists from the Department of Public Health are continuously monitoring collected data to uphold its integrity. The Office of Alternative Policing Strategies is leveraging this valuable data to strategically plan the program’s expansion across all eight MNPD precincts. In May, Partners in Care extended its reach to the Central Precinct, followed by the addition of the South Precinct on November 1, 2022. The strategic objective of the Office of Alternative Policing Strategies is to introduce the Partners in Care program to a new Metro Police Precinct every six months. This ambitious rollout aims to achieve full coverage across all eight precincts, with the Midtown Hills precinct slated to be the next to join on May 1.
The encouraging data collected during the pilot phase of the Partners in Care program highlights its effectiveness and potential for continued positive impact on community crisis response.
