The Clinician-Led Community Response (CLCR) team will expand to provide service to the St. George Apartments and IMPD’s North District.
A partnership between the City of Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety and Stepping Stones Therapy Center, the CLCR has received 925 calls since Jan. 1, 2024. The CLCR has assisted nearly 650 individuals, and the new expansion will mean access to around 192,000 additional residents.
“Thanks to the Clinician-Led Community Response team, hundreds of our residents in IMPD’s Downtown and East districts are getting the care they need when experiencing a behavioral health emergency,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said. “By expanding these services to North District, the CLCR team can extend the reach of their compassionate work. They are not only helping individuals in crisis, but they are also helping keep neighbors safe by ensuring law enforcement can focus on public safety issues while trained clinicians attend to calls related to mental health crises.”
The program was launched in IMPD’s Downtown District on July 1, 2023, to address mental health and substance use disorders. CLCR clinicians, rather than police, are the first to arrive to assist.
The program expanded to IMPD’s East District on Feb. 5, 2024, and now operates 24/7 in both districts. The team focuses on crisis intervention, de-escalation, referrals and transportation to community partners.
“We’re not just focused on immediate intervention”, said Andrea Brown, director of operations for Stepping Stones Therapy Center. “We’re also working toward fostering long-term wellness and building trust within Indy’s broader community.”
CLCR is part of Indy’s broader initiative to manage community health needs. IMPD’s Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams operate across the city, pairing officers with clinicians from Eskenazi Health to handle mental health calls.
The Assessment and intervention Center, part of the new Community Justice Campus, offers free 24/7 assistance in mental health, addiction, homelessness and socioeconomic issues. Recently, seven Burmese-Chin individuals graduated from the Office of Public Health and Safety’s Behavioral Health Cultural Equity Grant program and are cow certified to serve their community with mental health care.
For more information, visit indy.gov.
This reporting is made possible by a grant from the Indianapolis African-American Quality of Life Initiative, empowering our community with essential health insights. https://iaaqli.org/
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Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
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