In 2020, the Massachusetts General Court charged the state’s Community Policing and Behavioral Health Advisory Council (CPBHAC) with studying and making recommendations for creating a crisis response and continuity of care system that delivers alternative emergency services and programs. On behalf of CPBHAC, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health contracted with the Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, which partnered with TAC to conduct a comprehensive review and evaluation of Massachusetts’s crisis intervention, alternative emergency response and jail diversion models, services, and programs, and to consider models used effectively in other jurisdictions. The resulting Report of the Community Policing and Behavioral Health Advisory Council in accordance with Section 117 of Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 and Section 25 of Chapter 19: Crisis Services in the Commonwealth, presented recommendations to bolster the state’s existing infrastructure and provide more effective crisis response to people experiencing a behavioral health crisis.   

TAC also conducted a study of the disposition of 911 calls to determine how many and what types of calls were diverted to alternative (non-law enforcement) responses, and how many other calls could have been diverted. To accomplish this, TAC staff analyzed computer-aided dispatch narratives, police incident reports, and other available information. The resulting report, Massachusetts 911 Call Study: Assessing the Potential to Divert Behavioral Health Calls to Alternative Responses, in tandem with the companion report above, identifies strengths, gaps, and opportunities for growth across Massachusetts’ entire behavioral health crisis services continuum.