The CARES mental health response program will be able to expand beyond Madison’s city borders under a key provision in Dane County Executive Joe Parisi’s upcoming 2024 county budget, according to a county press release. Parisi is offering $200,000 in county grant funds to communities seeking to partner with the existing CARES program, improving the response to behavioral health emergencies in more parts of the region.
CARES was started by the city of Madison as a behavioral health emergency response team. The teams respond to nonviolent behavioral health emergencies and are dispatched by the Dane County 911 Center. Parisi’s budget starts a new “Dane County 911 Dispatch Diversion Team,” a group of crisis counselors based in the 911 Center who will work with people who call 911 while experiencing a behavioral health emergency. The budget invests over $400,000 in new county funding for four 911 crisis counselor positions to start the new team. They will initially work weekdays from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. as part of a pilot launch of the brand-new initiative.
A similar model utilized in Tucson, Arizona reduced the need for an in-person response by public safety officials by close to 80%.
Parisi will introduce his full 2024 Dane County budget on Monday, Oct. 2.
