City Of Knoxville Contracts With Helen Ross McNabb Center To Expand Police Department Mental Health Co-Response Teams

The Knoxville City Council, in Tennessee, approved a contract valued at $820,000 with Helen Ross McNabb Center to expand the police department’s mental health co-response program from four teams to six teams. Under the contract, two additional Master’s-level behavioral health professionals employed by the center will join the Knoxville Police Department's co-response program to accompany officers on mental health crisis calls. The teams are intended to divert people in crisis due to addiction and mental illness to care and treatment, rather than incarceration.

Each co-response team pairs a specially trained law enforcement . . .