Crisis Call Diversion Program
A first-of-its kind program in the U.S.
The Crisis Call Diversion Program answers non-violent/non-crime related calls, diverting incoming calls from the police, emergency medical response teams and/or the fire department to The Harris Center's Crisis Line. The Crisis Line phone counselor’s are available to provide enhanced service to mental health consumers not directly available for patrol, such as community mental health referrals and Mobile Crisis Outreach team responses.
FY2020
- The Crisis Call Diversion team completely diverted over 2,100 callers away from the Houston Police Department and the Houston Fire Department
- A total of 4,566 calls were transferred from the City of Houston’s 9-1-1 call center
Since Inception
- Since March of 2016, over 7,400 calls were diverted from law enforcement
- Equating to 11,163 hours of police time and saving over $2M in police resources
- Since June of 2017, over 3,100 calls were diverted from the fire department
- Equating to $1,404 per response and saving over $4M in fire department resources
The Crisis Call Diversion Program saves approximately $821K+ in first responder costs per year.