By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Erie County’s Department of Mental Health will fund a one-year, $500,000 pilot to restore clinician support for the Buffalo Police Department’s Behavioral Health Team.
- The unit, created in 2020, has operated without clinicians since April, when the department ended its relationship with the nonprofit Endeavor Health.
- The county is selecting a new provider through a request for proposals, and Director Sarah Bonk said the pilot aims to fix dispatch coordination and communication problems and build stronger treatment plans from the start.
- Since the team’s creation, 1% of its responses have ended in arrests, according to Buffalo police data.
- The team works only the daytime shift, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Bonk said a second shift or 24/7 coverage is “on the table” if the pilot succeeds.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County will fund a one-year, $500,000 pilot program to restore mental health clinician support for the Buffalo Police Department’s Behavioral Health Team, The Buffalo News reported.
The team, established in 2020, responds to police calls involving mental health crises. Earlier this year, the department ended its relationship with Endeavor Health, which had provided clinicians paired with officers for field work and follow-up visits. Since April, officers have worked without that clinical support. The Erie County Department of Mental Health has taken over the partnership and is selecting a new provider through a request for proposals.
Department Director Sarah Bonk helped design the original model while working at Endeavor Health. She said it fell short in moving beyond basic community service links and assessments toward stronger treatment plans, and that dispatch and communication between clinicians and law enforcement were poorly coordinated. She said the county will provide funding, select the provider and help track outcomes, and hopes the city can fund the program if the pilot succeeds and that the model can be replicated elsewhere in the county.
Buffalo police data show that 1% of the team’s responses have ended in arrests. Officer Katelynn Bolden said the goal is always to avoid jail, though arrests occur when someone is seriously hurt or property is significantly damaged. Officers may take people to Erie County Medical Center under a state law that allows police discretion when they fear someone may harm themselves or others, to a diversion center or to the ECMC Help Center for assessment. Capt. Sharese Saleh said incarceration and hospitalization do not always fit the need.
Sharon Gandarilla-Javier, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said municipalities often run pilots and then stop funding them instead of growing the teams or making them permanent.
The unit currently works only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., a limit Common Council members have questioned. Bonk said the first goal is to do the daytime shift successfully, then consider a second shift, and that building toward 24/7 coverage is possible.