Co-responder Model
A crisis intervention approach in which a mental health clinician is paired with a law enforcement officer to respond jointly to calls involving psychiatric emergencies.
Full Definition
The co-responder model is one of several law enforcement–mental health collaboration strategies used in community psychiatry to divert people in psychiatric crisis away from arrest and toward treatment. Unlike a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) — in which officers receive specialised mental health training but respond alone — the co-responder model deploys a mental health clinician alongside the officer in real time. Editors should avoid treating 'CIT' and 'co-responder' as synonyms, as they represent distinct operational frameworks. Documentation for co-responder programmes may include joint agency memoranda of understanding (MOUs), data-sharing agreements, and programme fidelity reports. The hyphen in 'co-responder' is standard and should be retained; 'coresponder' (closed) is non-standard.
Usage
Usage note: Retain the hyphen in 'co-responder'. Do not use as a synonym for CIT. Clarify in documents whether the clinician is employed by law enforcement, a mental health agency, or a hospital system.
In Context
- "Under the co-responder model, a licensed clinical social worker accompanied patrol officers on calls flagged as mental health-related." — Programme description report
- "The co-responder model reduced psychiatric-related arrests in the pilot precinct by 34% over 12 months." — Outcome evaluation summary