Title
Community Assistance Program (CAP) Update - September 2024
Description
This report provides the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee with an update on the Community Assistance Program expansion efforts.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
In June 2021, the City Council approved $15 million in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-22 City Budget to expand the Community Assistance Program (CAP). CAP is a proven model to assist residents experiencing a traumatic event, behavioral health crisis, or other social welfare concerns. CAP is the foundation of our efforts to address those community needs that don’t expressly align with the mission of traditional emergency and public safety services. To meet the diverse needs of those we serve, the CAP team continues collaborating with community partners and connecting individuals with appropriate resources.
The CAP expansion has made considerable progress in achieving long-term program success and sustainment. The vision is to increase the number of Crisis Response Units (CRUs) to ten and Behavioral Health Units (BHUs) to nine. In summary, there have been several key accomplishments made across staffing, call response, locations, and services highlighted below:
The expansion of CAP included adding 130 FTE positions. CAP has partnered with Human Resources to complete multiple recruitments and is continuing to recruit to fill open positions. Filled positions include the Deputy Director, Casework Services Coordinators, part-time and full-time Caseworker IIs and IIIs, including Behavioral Health Dispatchers, and a Curriculum/Training Coordinator. In June of 2024, CAP collaborated with Human Resources to create a new job family to address hiring challenges. Caseworker IIs are now reclassified as Crisis Intervention Specialists and Caseworker IIIs are now Crisis Intervention Supervisors. Hiring under this new job family will begin in the fall of FY 2024-25. In addition to City staff, CAP has been partnering with external agencies to enhance staffing and skills. CAP hired contracted Peer Support Specialists with lived experience skills that help augment the BHU services. Recruitment for additional Peer Support Specialists is ongoing.
The additional CAP staff allowed for expanding units in service. In August 2024, an additional BHU team was partially staffed bringing to a total of five units in service and providing coverage 20 hours a day, seven days a week. There continue to be six CRU providing 24-hour coverage, five days a week and 22 hour coverage, two days a week. The increase in overall CAP response and capacity has benefited the community positively.
With the increase of new CAP staff, training and development have been focused on equipping staff with the tools and resources to serve the community. CAP staff receive extensive training and education before assignment to response units. In addition to routine training, the CAP team constantly seeks opportunities to better serve the community. An example includes CAP working with the City of Phoenix Public Health Division to supply Narcan (naloxone) to the BHUs and CRUs. CAP has also worked with a community to provide Mental Health First Aid and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) courses to our staff.
One of the goals of creating the BHUs is to create an alternative response to incoming 9-1-1 calls that does not require police, fire, or EMS to respond to a behavioral crisis. CAP’s BHU program started in July 2022 with a limited response area and a single BHU unit. For the first month, there with 18 calls for service identified by police to be transferred to a BHU dispatcher for triage and service. As additional BHU teams were staffed and the response went Citywide, call transferred increased. Currently, calls transferred from police for BHU response is trending as 466 percent increase when comparing the first seven months of 2023 to the first seven months of 2024.
As CAP increases staffing and units for service, location expansion planning has also been a priority. CAP currently has eight locations across the City. In 2023, the Mayor and City Council approved leasing a location from Grand Canyon University. A Behavioral Health Unit (BH3) moved into the GCU building at 2657 W. Camelback in early 2024. CAP is collaborating with Downtown PHX Inc. to place a Behavioral Health Unit at 1 E. Washington by fall of 2024. With the upcoming build of Fire Station 62, the plans will include building out a space to house a CAP unit. With the recent General Obligation (GO) Bond approval, the Fire Department will work with CAP to modify the old fire stations in the bond to house CAP units as a permanent space for future growth.
The City Manager’s Office established the 17-member Community Mental Health Wellness, Public Health and Safety Task Force in February 2024. The task force is a community-led group charged with examining the mental health wellness and safety needs of Phoenix residents, educating residents on existing programs and resources, reviewing the effectiveness of City mental health-related programs and services, and keeping an open dialogue between City leadership, staff, and communities.
Looking ahead, CAP will continue to focus on filling remaining vacant positions to bring more units into service, investing in the development and training of staff, building additional locations, and streamlining processes to improve community outreach and services.
This item includes a report on the Community Assistance Program’s call volume for Crisis Response and Behavioral Health Units, individuals served, as well as hiring and recruitment efforts.
The report is included for review as Attachment A.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays, Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer, and the Fire Department.