The Impact of Embedding Behavioral Health Professionals in a 911 Call Center.

OBJECTIVE

The authors assessed the impact of a program in Austin that embedded behavioral health clinicians in a 911 call center.

METHODS

An observational study design consisting of a treatment and a comparison group was used to estimate the impact of the program on peace officer emergency detentions (POEDs), arrests, use of force, and officers' time on scene. The unit of analysis was the 911 call. Data included all 911 calls between December 2019 and February 2025 that were operator identified as eligible for live transfer to an embedded clinician. The treatment group (N=16,264) comprised calls that were transferred to a clinician; the comparison group (N=4,365) comprised calls that arrived when the clinicians were unavailable and so a live transfer was not possible.

RESULTS

Analyses adjusted for call timing and location revealed that the program significantly reduced the likelihood of a POED (adjusted OR [AOR]=0.57, 95% CI=0.48-0.68) and an arrest (AOR=0.65, 95% CI=0.43-0.98), as well as the average length of officers' time on scene (25.8 minutes, p<0.001). Evidence of the impact on the likelihood of officers' use of force was mixed.

CONCLUSIONS

Embedding behavioral health professionals in a 911 call center provides important public health and public safety benefits, mainly by reducing the likelihood of involuntary detentions and arrests, as well as officers' average length of time on scene.