City expands Clinician-Led Community Response team coverage to Southeast District

INDIANAPOLIS – More than half of the Circle City is now covered by round-the-clock mental health crisis support.

Starting Wednesday, the Clinician-Led Community Response (CLCR) team will take certain non-violent mental health-specific calls in IMPD’s Southeast District, in addition to three other districts.

Every day, Hoosiers face emergencies of all kinds. Here in Indianapolis, those experiencing non-violent mental health crises may receive gentler responses than they might somewhere else.

“We are plainly dressed, no lights and sirens, so that alone brings down some of the anxiety surrounding calling 911,” said CLCR Executive Director Andrea Brown.

A partnership between OPHS and Stepping Stones Therapy Center, the city’s CLCR team of behavioral health professionals takes certain 911 calls that may otherwise be handled by police. It launched in 2023, starting with IMPD’s Downtown District, eventually expanding to the East, then the North Districts. With the latest addition of the Southeast District, nearly 63% of Indy is covered 24/7.

“This is a service that is needed not just in our city, but in our state and nationwide,” Brown added.

Brown said the goal is to limit the number of people getting arrested or emergency-detained because of a mental health issue, and it’s working.

“When we looked at our numbers, just in 2024 alone, we were 98% effective, where when we arrived on scene,” Brown explained. “No one needed an additional interaction with either law enforcement or the emergency room.”

Over the past two years, OPHS reports the team has taken 2,000 calls and assisted 1,600 people. Just since the North District expansion 10 months ago, they’ve taken 817 calls, helping 715 people.

Brown said the Southeast District was next in line due to having the next-highest volume of mental health-specific calls requesting a clinician there, tracking over 30 in the past week. Once they have enough funding and staff, she said the CLCR team will expand services to the remaining Northwest and Southwest Districts, so that any community member in crisis may be greeted by someone trained to address their needs, and who will follow up with referrals for future care.

“1 in 5 adults in America experience a mental health crisis,” Brown said. “Having a program like this and having people show up at your door who are compassionate, trained in de-escalation and offering that support is invaluable.”

Mayor Joe Hogsett shared the following statement in a media release about the expansion:

“It is important that residents in Indianapolis have access to supportive mental health services, especially when they are actively in crisis. This latest expansion of the Clinician Led Community Response program into Southeast District underscores the City’s commitment to providing these services. By ensuring these mental health professionals are available to support our neighbors where they are needed most, IMPD officers can focus their attention on public safety issues.”

Mayor Joe Hogsett