 |
|
This year marks 10 years of the co-responder partnership between SummitStone Health Partners and the Loveland Police Department. What started in 2016 as a pilot program, with one clinician working alongside Loveland police officers, has grown into a decade-long commitment to serving people in behavioral health crises together. In this program, SummitStone behavioral health professionals, known as co-responders, and law enforcement officers respond side by side to mental health crises, working to reduce barriers during some of life’s most difficult moments. Co-response goes beyond the crisis itself. It helps people avoid an unnecessary trip to the hospital or jail, and connects them to ongoing care. The follow-up doesn’t stop there. Case managers and peer specialists on the co-response team check in after the initial call, continuing to offer support and connection to services, something officers alone often don’t have time to do. Co-response isn’t just about responding to a crisis; it’s about changing what happens after.
The growth speaks for itself. In 2016, co-responders and Loveland Police Department provided 89 services. In 2025, they provided over 3,500 services.
The partnership between officers and co-responders isn’t about two people bringing two different sets of experience to a moment of crisis. It’s about both of them showing up for the people who need their help, to build the trusted relationship and connection that encourages someone to take the next step in getting the care they need. One co-responder recalls a client with schizophrenia who felt safest talking with the officer on scene. The officer built that trust first, and the two worked as a team to connect them to care.
Showing up consistently, for as long as it takes, is what makes that trust possible. Co-responders often see the same people through repeated crises before that person is ready to take the next step in caring for themselves. “Maybe their magic number is 127 tries,” one co-responder said. “We keep showing up, for as long as it takes. When you see someone in their hardest moments finally take that step, it’s a huge reward.” It’s a reminder that recovery isn’t a single moment. It’s built through consistency and trust, one visit at a time.
That same care is something co-responders say has surprised them about their law enforcement partners. “I was surprised how genuinely kind the officers are,” one co-responder shared. “They just want to go home at the end of the day, like everybody else. They work really hard.” Officers on the team are often the ones asking co-responders questions, curious about different mental health conditions and how to better support the people they meet. It’s a side of law enforcement the community doesn’t always see, and it’s a big part of why this partnership works.
Ten years in, the team describes a deep trust in each other, clinically and personally. “There’s a lot of skill and depth to this team that we’re so fortunate to have,” one co-responder shared. And they hope the community walks away with one thing above all: crisis support exists, it’s here, and no one has to wait until things fall apart to reach out.
|
