Crisis Response and Behavioral Health
Crisis Response and Behavioral Health
About the Center
The Center for Crisis Response and Behavioral Health (CRBH) provides training and education to law enforcement and mental health professionals on effective response methods for encounters with individuals who are experiencing a psychiatric, substance-related, or mental health crisis. Programs address a critical need for reimagining and expanding roles and opportunities in public safety and seek to create effective partnerships between mental health and law enforcement.
Through continuing education, webinars, an annual symposium, and the nation's first graduate certificate program program in Co-Response, our curriculum offer law enforcement and co-response clinicians the skills needed to identify, manage, and de-escalate situations involving persons in crisis.
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Third Annual Co-Response Research Symposium
Hosted by William James College Center for Crisis Response and Behavioral Health
March 24-25, 2025
Kimpton Marlowe Hotel, Cambridge, MA
This symposium will feature the research of Co-Response practitioners and scholars at the intersection of law enforcement and individuals in crisis. Registration information can be found here.
Keynote Presenters:
- Dr. Sue-Ming Yang, Department of Criminology, Law, and Society, George Mason University
- Jessica Murphy, LMSW, International Co-Responder Alliance Board Chair
A Case Study
Police-Clinician Co-Response Calms Campus Mental-Health Crises
Featured Contributor: Dr. Sarah Abbott, Director, Director for Crisis Response and Behavioral Health, William James College
Dr. Sarah Abbott, Director of the Center for Crisis Response and Behavioral Health, contributed to a report co-produced by The Chronicle of Higher Education and AT&T. Below is an excerpt from the report.
“If a college student has a mental-health crisis, a uniformed, armed police officer knocking on the door might not be the most comforting, constructive response. It can escalate tensions, leading to panic, misunderstandings, or unnecessary forcible hospitalization or arrest. Often a better course is empathetic listening, calm diagnostic screening, and efficient connection of the student with campus counseling, medical, and other resources.
That’s why an increasing number of colleges are instituting co-response programs that pair campus police officers with clinicians to handle wellness checks and other mental-health-related calls.”
Center Highlights
International Co-Responder Alliance
The CRBH is a participating member of the International Co-Responder Alliance (ICRA). The ICRA was established to unite, promote, strengthen, and expand multi-disciplinary co-responder programs, while improving outcomes for first responders, behavioral health professionals and individuals affected by behavioral health issues.
