Launch of Community-Driven Crisis Response: A Workbook for Coordinators

Hosted by The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 

Planning coordinators are the people responsible for shepherding the vision and goals of various crisis system partners to better coordinate their services. They are often in need of dedicated tools that provide guidance on best practices and lessons learned from established programs. The “Community-Driven Crisis Response: A Workbook for Coordinators” was developed in response to this need and designed specifically for planning coordinators who have been tasked with organizing the planning and implementation of community-led responses to behavioral health crisis calls.  

During this webinar, participants will learn more about how to use this tool to guide their team’s work and vision for launching a community-driven crisis response system. The webinar will also feature a panel discussion from crisis system planning coordinators from a community responder program in Amherst, MA; an arrest and jail alternatives program in Olympia, WA; and a homeless outreach team in Philadelphia, PA. The panelists will share lessons learned and how they managed successful and sustainable community-led responses to a variety of behavioral health crisis calls. 

Speakers: 

• Felicia Lopez Wright, Senior Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health, CSG Justice Center 
• Risë Haneberg, Deputy Division Director, Behavioral Health, CSG Justice Center 
• Earl Miller, Director, Amherst Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service (Amherst, MA) 
• Neil Calmjoy, Arrest and Jail Alternatives Program Manager (Olympia, WA) 
• Nathanael Block, Arrest and Jail Alternatives Program Supervisor (Olympia, WA) 
• Paul Levy, President and CEO, Philadelphia’s Center City District (Philadelphia, PA)