Developing a Common Definition for Community Responder Programs

(Photo Credit: Olympia Crisis Response Unit in Washington)

This May, the state of Washington passed legislation supporting the expansion of alternative response teams (sometimes called community responders) as a public safety service. This came on the heels of a law passed in March 2024 protecting the teams from civil liability. While Washington is one of the states at the forefront of community response legislation, they are not alone in these kinds of efforts.  

Community responder programs have been emerging as a model for crisis response for years, with programs across the U.S. showing the viability of community-led response models that are tailored to local needs and integrated into emergency systems. Some states are now following suit with laws that codify their roles in first response systems and provide protections to team members during emergencies. As these programs have grown in popularity, however, it has become increasingly important to clarify the scope of what they do and their intended impact.  

In January 2025, the CSG Justice Center launched its second Expanding First Response Commission to help address this issue. Originally started in 2023 with 21 experts seeking to shape the conversation on and aid in the advancement of community response, the second commission has been working on actionable guidance for state leaders interested in supporting local community responder efforts.  

“We as leaders have to be involved in the continual identification of emerging and evolving community networks,” said Annie Burwell, program manager of the Crisis Response Unit in Round Rock, TX and two-time member of the commission. “We can’t rely on government alone—we must seek out and empower people who can speak agriculture, firefighting, Spanish, recovery, paramedicine, advocacy, and faith, to give just a few examples. And we need all of them at the table.” 

Creating a Shared Understanding

As part of the current commission’s work, 29 experts directly involved with community responder programs and the issues surrounding them—including advocates, first responders, policymakers, practitioners, researchers, state and municipal officials, and individuals with other personal and professional experiences—worked together to discuss the opportunities and challenges involved in expanding these programs nationwide.  

Among those challenges was a need for a shared understanding to better equip leaders with the information and resources to support local efforts. For the commissioners, this began with the creation of a common, universal definition—rather than the general descriptions that exist now—that could be used as the foundation for establishing community responder programs as a permanent branch of emergency first response systems.