Co-Response Evaluation

At OMNI, we apply our deep cross-systems expertise and insights to address complex social issues, and evaluation of co-responder programs falls in the center of our expertise in behavioral health and justice. We apply decades of experience in evaluation of programs to our work with community co-responder programs to develop evaluation infrastructure such as logic models, workflows, and evaluation and measurement plans. Our research teams also partner with key program partners to collect and analyze primary and secondary data to measure and assess progress toward intended program goals—the culmination of which has involved the development of informative and dynamic reports that communicate program impact to broad audiences and allow programs to track program improvement metrics.

Co-responder models have many direct and tangible benefits in communities, that our research teams help to illuminate through data, including:

• Providing needed behavioral health services to community members

• Returning law enforcement officers more quickly to service

• Saving valuable financial resources by diverting individuals from high-acuity services such as the need for emergency vehicles on scene, transport to emergency rooms, and incarceration

City of Alexandria, Virginia, Co-Response Program (ACORP) Evaluation

Since 2021, OMNI has led the evaluation of ACORP, which is a collaborative effort between the Alexandria Police Department and the Department of Community and Human Services that pairs a specially trained law enforcement officer and a licensed, behavioral health clinician to respond in tandem to calls regarding people experiencing a behavioral health crisis. OMNI’s research team utilizes best practices and trauma-informed approaches (for example by directly seeking the input of the community on the impacts of the program for individuals who have received co-responder services through strengths-based surveying techniques) to maximize helpful and safe outcomes for people served. https://omni.org/acorp-6-month-report

Boulder County, Colorado, Co-Responder Unit Evaluation

The Boulder County Co-Responder Unit, funded by the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (now the Behavioral Health Administration) the Towns of Erie and Superior, City of Lafayette and Boulder County Departments of Community Services and Housing and Human Services, pairs law enforcement with a co-responder trained in behavioral health provision to respond to calls for service determined to have a behavioral health component. As the evaluation partner, OMNI collects, tracks, and reports on data from these interactions. Evaluation reports include performance measurement and other process and outcome data for the purpose of monitoring program progress and outcomes. Data are used to inform the ongoing development of a county-wide system of co-responder policies, practices, and infrastructure with the participation of all law enforcement agencies to improve overall service delivery, increase efficiency and effectiveness, and ensure sustainability. https://omni.org/bccore-2022-report

Pitkin County Colorado Area Co-Responder Team (PACT) Evaluation

The PACT program is a collaboration between Pitkin County Public Health, Mind Springs Health, the Aspen Police Department, Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office, and Snowmass Village Police Department. PACT is funded by grants from the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (now the Behavioral Health Administration), and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Harm Reduction Grant Fund. In addition to supporting the PACT program with foundational evaluation elements, including the development of a program logic model, OMNI supports the reporting of data tracked for both grants, coupled with dispatch data for co-responder encounters that occurred in Pitkin County.

• https://omni.org/pact-harm-reduction-logic-model

• https://omni.org/pact-q4-report