Colorado’s OBH has funded 25 counties to implement co-responder teams of officers and behavioral health professionals beginning in 2018. This evaluation of the first 2 years of the program uses the RE-AIM evaluation framework which looks 5 aspects of the program: reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance. The evaluation is based on initial analysis of data collected by the pilot sites as well as focus groups and interviews with law enforcement officers and behavioral health specialists involved in the program. The report describes program successes and challenges in implementation and describes a new data reporting tool CHI developed for the co-responders program. Potentially, this report could serve as a valuable tool for other states and communities designing evaluation plans for their co-responder programs.
Funding Source: Colorado Health Institute
Responding to Behavioral Health Needs: An Evaluation of the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health's Co-Responder Program
An initial evaluation of the Colorado Co-Responder program administered by the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) from the Colorado Health Institute (CHI)