The Denver Gazette | Listening first: How Routt County's new co-response team responds to mental health crises
When Routt County launched its new Mental Health Response Team last fall, co-response models themselves were not new to Colorado. Teams pairing law enforcement with clinicians have operated for years in Colorado Springs and across the Front Range. What is new, local leaders said, is how urgently the model has been needed in this corner of the state and how quickly a rising tide of behavioral health crises has tested the team. The Routt County team began responding to calls in September, pairing Deputy Sheriff Dawn Smith with licensed clinical social worker Tracy Dierksen to serve Routt and neighboring Moffat County. The team emerged from years of planning, research and grant work. Its first months have unfolded amid growing concerns about suicide, substance use and repeat crisis calls in the Yampa Valley. For Sheriff Doug Scherar, the effort grew from years of observing gaps in law enforcement’s ability to respond to behavioral health crises…Scherar took the proposal to the Routt County Board of Commissioners in early 2023, which directed the sheriff’s office to pursue grant funding and bring in a consultant to assess local resources. The consultant reached the same conclusion: an embedded clinician paired with a deputy was best suited to Routt County’s size, geography, and needs. UCHealth was selected as the clinical partner, and Dierksen joined Smith for training over the summer. By September, the team was operational.