Cross References

City health boards - see Ohio R.C. 3709.05 et seq.

All powers and duties relative to the public health shall be invested in the board of health, which shall be composed of five members, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The five members shall be appointed and may be removed as provided in section 61, and shall serve without compensation. The mayor shall be president by virtue of the office but shall have no vote.

(Amended 11-5-74; renumbered and amended 11-3-98.)

The term of office of members of the board of health shall be four years.

(Amended 11-5-74; renumbered 11-3-98.)

Subject to the provisions of this charter the board of health shall have all the powers and perform all the duties provided by general law to be exercised by boards of health, and shall have power to provide such further means and agencies as they may deem necessary and proper to protect, preserve and safeguard the public health.

(Renumbered 11-3-98.)

The division of community crisis response is established as a division of the department of health and shall be under the authority of the city health commissioner. The health commissioner shall appoint an administrative head of the division who will be the chief of community crisis response. The division of community crisis response shall have as its primary duty to respond to and assist persons in crisis using the most appropriate and least invasive non-police intervention available, including the use of non-police, crisis response teams as presumptive first responders to 911 calls and other requests for assistance for situations that do not involve imminent danger, including mental health and substance abuse calls. For purposes of this Amendment, "imminent danger" means a substantial risk of death or bodily harm to a person or persons. The division is intended to supplement and work in coordination with other services and programs, including hotlines and other communication services providing person-to-person crisis intervention and support.

The division shall be responsible, at minimum, for the following:

A.

Overseeing the development of curriculum and training on community crisis response for employees of the division that is focused on person-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally competent community crisis responses, providing on-site screening and assessment, stabilization and de-escalation, and coordination with and referrals to health, social, and other services and supports as needed.

B.

Overseeing the management and administration of services provided by the division and coordination of such services with other departments and programs, including providing staff within the City of Columbus Emergency Communications Center to assist call-takers in identifying, assessing, and routing calls where appropriate.

C.

Training and overseeing crisis response teams, that are not police officers, to respond directly as first or sole responders to 911 calls and other requests for assistance that include at least one community crisis response worker, and emergency medical technicians, professional and paraprofessional staff, crisis intervention specialists, therapists, case managers, and trained peer and family support workers, as needed.

D.

Training and overseeing outreach teams, that are not police officers, that canvass the community to interact with persons and engage with businesses and residents to resolve issues relating to the division mission, and to build relationships with individuals experiencing homelessness or experiencing issues with substance use or mental health to assist them in obtaining voluntary services.

E.

Providing adequate resources for the community crisis response teams to fulfill their function, including, but not limited to, safety, transportation, communication, and other equipment necessary for carrying out the purpose of the division.

F.

Establishing a training and hiring process for community crisis workers that will provide compensation for training and work, and that will use a hiring rubric that includes preferences for individuals with lived experience with one or more of the following: community violence, legal system contact, mental and substance abuse conditions, poverty, and housing instability or homelessness. This provision shall not be construed to conflict with any applicable professional education or accreditation standards, nor federal or state funding rules for such programs.

G.

No provision of sections 127-1 through 127-8 shall be construed to diminish any existing or future collective bargaining rights of employees of the city of Columbus.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

Services provided by the division shall include, at minimum:

A.

Crisis response teams that are adequately staffed and available to respond to emergency calls within a time period that may be designated by the Community Crisis Response Advisory Board.

B.

Crisis response teams trained to respond to calls when the presence of a police officer is not necessary, including, but not limited to, calls involving mental health and substance abuse crises, wellness checks, housing instability and homelessness, and connection to voluntary services for situations that do not involve imminent danger.

C.

Medical, mental health, or substance abuse transport provided by the crisis response team or in coordination with another appropriate city department where a person requests transport and such transport is authorized.

D.

Follow up contact for support and connection to services within 48 hours of contact with a crisis response team, as needed.

E.

Additional programs and services to provide and support non-police officer crisis response services.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

The division shall collaborate with all emergency call and dispatch services and crisis hotlines and relevant city, county, state, and federal agencies and hotlines (hereinafter known as "dispatcher services") to develop protocols to identify and route requests for assistance to crisis response teams for situations that do not involve imminent danger, and provide ongoing training and support for their implementation as necessary. The division shall monitor and evaluate calls in conjunction with relevant agencies on an ongoing basis to see how call-takers are assessing risk and routing calls and adjust the training and protocols as necessary. In accordance with the training and protocols, calls shall be evaluated to determine the level of risk and a crisis response team deployed for situations that do not involve imminent danger. This data shall be part of the service usage data reviewed by the community crisis response advisory board. This provision is not intended to modify or affect decisions related to the staffing, compensation, or collective bargaining rights of dispatcher services personnel; and employees of the division shall not engage in dispatcher services apart from the duties outlined herein.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

The division shall collect data on the services provided by the division, the number of calls diverted from law enforcement and their origin, the general nature and type of the calls received, the location of the call or request for assistance, the type of crisis response team that responded, the response time, the services provided, the number of times police were requested as back-up, whether there was a voluntary transport, the outcome of each call, and demographic information of individuals who received services. This data must be anonymized so as not to identify any individual who received services. The division will compile quarterly data reports that will be provided to the crisis response advisory board and the public through a dashboard, website, or other equally accessible means. Every four years the division shall assess the division's effectiveness and shall make the evaluation available to the public.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

There shall be a community crisis response advisory board which shall be comprised of one voting member from each city council district, a voting member appointed by the Mayor, and a voting member from the labor union or collective bargaining unit representing community crisis response employees, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. The advisory board members representing city council districts shall be appointed by the Columbus City Council member representing each district through an open application process for a term of four years. The board may include additional non-voting members appointed at the discretion of the city health commissioner. Those appointing advisory board members shall make best efforts to appoint members who are representative of the diverse communities within the City of Columbus on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, disability, familial status, military status, and socioeconomic status.

The department of health shall set meetings for the community crisis response advisory board, which shall occur at least once per quarter annually. The board shall make recommendations to the Mayor's Office, City Council, department of health and the division on topics including but not limited to the implementation of this Amendment, the provision of community crisis response services by the division, funding recommendations, service expansion, and coordination between departments. The board shall collect input through public comment.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

A.

Funding for the division of community crisis response and the community crisis response advisory board shall be appropriated on an annual basis in an amount sufficient to pay for the expenses necessary for the effective operations of the division and the advisory board. In making funding and staffing decisions under sections 127-1 through 127-8, such decisions shall not be used as a basis for reducing funding for the Department of Public Safety or the Department of Health, nor as a basis to reduce the number or compensation of existing employees of these departments.

B.

The division shall seek any appropriate local, state, and federal funds designated for alternative crisis response initiatives or related services, including but not limited to mental health, substance use, and homelessness interventions.

C.

The division may receive donations and bequests, of money or property, in trust or otherwise, for division of community crisis response purposes. The City Treasurer shall be the custodian of all such funds and shall maintain them in a separate account for the sole purpose of allocating funds to the division.

D.

For fiscal year 2027, the appropriation for the division for community crisis response shall be a base of $5,000,000. For fiscal year 2028 and subsequent years, the division for community crisis response appropriation shall be the prior year's fiscal year base appropriation adjusted for an inflation factor plus a service usage factor not to exceed ten (10) percent of the previous fiscal year total appropriation where:

1.

Inflation factor is defined as the annualized change in the Consumer Price Index for the prior calendar year ending December 31.

2.

The service usage factor is equal to or less than ten percent of the previous fiscal year appropriation.

E.

For fiscal year 2031, the base appropriation shall be no less than a minimum of $12,000,000. For fiscal year 2032 and subsequent years, the division for community crisis response appropriation shall be the prior year's fiscal year base appropriation adjusted for an inflation factor plus a service usage factor not to exceed five (5) percent of the previous fiscal year total appropriation where:

1.

Inflation factor is defined as the annualized change in the Consumer Price Index for the prior calendar year ending December 31.

2.

The service usage factor is equal to or less than five percent of the previous fiscal year appropriation.

F.

The service usage factor shall be based on the service usage data from the most recent 12-month period available, and shall be determined by the community crisis response advisory board.

G.

The minimum appropriation amount shall be adjusted annually for inflation and shall only be reduced if financial circumstances dictate an overall reduction to the City's budget, in the event of which, the annual appropriation for the division and the advisory board shall not be reduced in an amount disproportionate to the average percentage decrease in appropriations to other City departments. The Mayor shall set forth the basis for any reduction in writing to the division and the advisory board at the time of submission or adoption, as applicable, of any budget or budget modification.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

A.

Members of Council, the Mayor, and the city health commissioner shall make the initial appointments to the advisory board no later than 180 days after the effective date of this Amendment.

B.

The initial appropriation for the division and advisory board prior to fiscal year 2027 shall cover the cost of implementing this Amendment.

C.

Community crisis response services as set forth in this Amendment shall be fully operational and available no later than January 1, 2029. Community crisis response services shall be available, as needed, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week by January 1, 2031.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)

A.

The provisions of this section shall be liberally construed in favor of its purpose.

B.

If any part of this section is deemed unconstitutional or invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall continue to operate in full force and effect.

(Ord. No. 0649-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)