Facts

Co-Response Need

Image
A clinician leans against a door frame outside a jail cell.

According to the 2019 Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission Report, the Middlesex County Sheriff's Office is the largest mental health facility in Middlesex County; 42% of the population is on psychiatric medication and 51% have "open mental health cases."

Police officers receive little training and have limited resources to respond to calls involving these individuals.

45% of inmates in the county jail system have a form of mental illness.

80% have a substance use condition.

Co-Response Impact

Image
An officer and a clinician comfort a person sitting on a curb in front of a police cruiser

Co-Response programs divert individuals with a behavioral health condition 74% to 88% of the time, resulting in a total estimated cost savings of as much as $4.9 million for the state. Advocates Co-Response clinicians divert on average, 55 individuals per month from unnecessary hospital emergency room visits.

For a full look at the impact data of the Co-Response Jail Diversion Program, please download our Jail Diversion fact sheet.

Police Satisfaction

“The Framingham Police would not be able to fulfil its mission of keeping Framingham safe without the Jail Diversion Program... The ability to immediately divert low-level offenders away from arrest- and into treatment- benefits everybody.” Chief of Police, Framingham Police Department

Officers cite the immediacy of the response, their familiarity with the clinicians, and the clinicians’ ability to de-escalate situations as the most important components of the JDP model.

93% of JDP Police Officers found the clinician helpful

91% of JDP Police Officers found the services helpful