Aurora Prepares To Launch Mobile Crisis Intervention Team
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - The Aurora Mobile Task Force launches this week. The program sends behavioral health experts to certain 911 calls instead of police officers.
The program is very similar to the STAR program in Denver. The team is made up of a licensed mental health clinician with a paramedic.
They can provide crisis intervention and de-escalation services, basic first aid and health assessments.
For now, it's a six month pilot program which will operate Wednesday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. It's only offered northeast Aurora.
"We looked at Aurora's call volume and what kind of calls would match this team specifically, so those were the times and days that we found the highest call volume," said Lana Dalton, a spokeswoman for Housing & Community Services in Aurora. "So with only one team running we really wanted to target an area we felt would benefit the most from these types of services."
The team begins their work on Sept. 8. Those in need of assistance can call 911 or the Aurora non-emergency line at 303-627-3100.
