Evaluating the effects of co-response teams in reducing subsequent hospitalization: A place-based randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abstract Responding to incidents involving individuals with mental illness has been a challenge for police officers. While co-response teams have been embraced as an effective police response strategy, most prior evaluation studies on co-response teams focused on outcomes that are not directly related to individuals’ subsequent mental health state. Additionally, the lack of experimental research hinders our ability to draw causal conclusions on the effects of co-response teams. To address this knowledge gap, this study evaluated the effectiveness of co-response teams on hospitalization outcomes of individuals in crisis using a place-based randomized controlled trial in southwest Virginia. Street segments with high volumes of mental health calls for service were randomly assigned to either treatment hotspots (n = 113) or control hotspots (n = 115). The results suggest that the co-response teams had a significant effect on reducing subsequent hospitalizations, with an estimated effect size of −0.22. The findings, challenges, and recommendations for future co-response team implementations were discussed.