Madison’s Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) program is expanding to Sun Prairie, which will be the first Dane County municipality to divert a portion of its emergency calls from police to Madison-based teams with training to handle people experiencing crises related to mental health or substance abuse, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The 12-month pilot project with Madison’s CARES program was approved by Sun Prairie’s City Council unanimously on Tuesday. Roughly 123 calls there are expected per year.
CARES first launched on Sept. 1, 2021. The program sends a Madison Fire Department paramedic and a Journey Mental Health Services crisis worker to 911 calls not anticipated to be violent. What began with one team has expanded to three at peak service hours. Its operating hours, which will remain the same in Sun Prairie, are 8 a.m.–9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.–8 p.m. on weekends. Madison plans in the long term to expand CARES to operate 24/7 like a traditional 911 service.
CARES is currently available in all jurisdictions served by the Madison Fire Department; however, the program has also been identified as one that could be cut if Madison residents don’t approve an up to $22 million referendum to exceed state revenue limits and bring in more tax money this fall.
Dane County will pick up 70% of Sun Prairie’s CARES costs — estimated to be $531 per call — under a $200,000 county grant program launched this year.
