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The program would be housed within the police department as the infrastructure of dispatchers, available vehicle fleet and the ability to respond to a private residence within a reasonable time already exist. Recently enacted legislation created a three -digit number (988) for mental health services designed to supplement or replace the current 911 system. Staff believes the new 988 number will augment current services for those seeking mental health treatment; however, those in crisis or experiencing an acute need will continue to call 911 for exigent needs which will continue to route calls through the police dispatch center. Table 3 display calls that are non -emergency in nature and are the types of calls that would be triaged by a police dispatcher and potentially assigned to this specialized team to respond. A response in conjunction with patrol officers may be necessary in situations that pose a threat to public safety as the call types do not provide the specific details of the call. Table 3: Alternative Response Calls for Service Call Type 2017 2018 2019 2020 Disturbance 1668 1705 1780 1775 Welfare Check 1479 1673 1545 1550 Mental Health Evaluation 495 480 426 326 Public Intoxication 404 372 354 69 Juvenile Problem 381 233 312 288 Suicide Attempt 45 39 28 23 Grand Total 4,472 4,502 4,445 4,031 Staff recommends staffing the MHRP with two clinicians to best serve the community — one specialist in juvenile intervention and another in adult intervention. The bifurcated nature of the program design is aligned with professional best practices where clinicians or therapists specialize in juvenile or adult interventions. The term clinician includes the professional job titles known as Licensed Clinician Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Marriage Family Therapist (LMFT). Ideally, one clinician would be a LCSW and the other a LFMT; however, staff has learned that this type of field work is unconventional in the profession and recruitment for these positions will likely be challenging. Therefore, while ideal to have a clinician and a therapist, program implementation will take priority over the specialization of the training and expertise of the mental health professional. Staff is recommending clinicians/therapists as opposed to psychologists due to the evaluative nature of the program and for fiscal sustainability. While a psychologist is a behavioral health professional, with a higher level of education and care, clinicians, Page 7 of 11