Working to improve crisis response for people with mental health needs, MARC supports eastern Jackson County partnership by standardizing data collection

The Eastern Jackson County, Missouri, (EJC) Co-Responder Program embeds mental health clinicians from two community behavioral health centers within seven police departments to respond alongside officers to active 911 calls that involve mental health, substance use or a related crisis.

Administering a grant through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program, MARC has assessed the co-responder program’s outcomes and impact since 2020. In 2023, MARC began administering an additional grant through the BJA’s Connect and Protect: Law Enforcement Behavioral Health Response Program that has allowed for program expansion. Since the start of this new grant in October 2023, co-responding mental health clinicians have conducted 2,080 field assessments or mental health screenings, and connected 1,339 individuals to behavioral health services. In over 95% of calls involving a co-responder, the client avoided arrest or being taken into custody.

MARC plays an important role in streamlining data collection. “The behavioral health centers and police departments serving eastern Jackson County all collect data in different ways and use different systems,” said Michael Striebich, MARC data analyst. “Our goal is to ensure that the data collected is consistent so we can effectively quantify the impact of the program and identify areas for growth.”

Striebich says standardizing data will improve the agencies’ abilities to measure progress towards their goals. For this process, MARC meets individually with each behavioral health center and police department to review data collection processes. Then, the group meets as a whole to identify shared definitions and identify the data they want to collect in addition to the required grant metrics. A new data collection tool is also being developed to include identifying community impact, tracking additional training for co-responders to broaden their knowledge and skills, and measuring the development of a well-documented co-responder program model that can be replicated throughout the broader Kansas City region.

Funded through 2026, partners in the co-responder program include ReDiscover and Burrell Behavioral Health, the cities of Blue Springs, Buckner, Grain Valley, Grandview, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Oak Grove and Raytown, Missouri, and MARC.

Please contact MARC for more information about the EJC Co-Responder Program or other microregional initiatives supported by MARC.