The city of Madison’s Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) program marked a key milestone as it responded to its 10,000th call for service last week.
CARES responds to nonviolent behavioral health emergencies that previously would have been dispatched to law enforcement and/or EMS. CARES teams are made up of one Madison Fire Department community paramedic partnered with one Journey Mental Health crisis worker. Each team completes training in crisis intervention, cultural competency, de-escalation, suicide prevention and risk assessment, trauma-informed care and more.
Since its inception in September 2021, the program has grown through the expansion of service hours, the addition of more teams and increased response capacity. The CARES program expanded service to Sun Prairie in February as part of a one-year pilot and has responded to 38 calls there so far in 2025.
Three CARES teams respond to calls on weekdays from 8 a.m.-9 p.m., and one CARES team responds on weekends from 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Learn more about CARES here.
