Sec. 219. - Establishment of the community crisis response system.

City Council shall establish by ordinance the following:

a.

Creation of a department, division, or office to implement, develop, and sustain the community crisis response system, in collaboration and coordination with relevant community partners, crisis hotlines, and city, county, state, and federal agencies.

b.

The department, division, or office shall have at minimum the following responsibilities:

i.

Provide and facilitate responses to persons in crisis using specialized, appropriate, and the least invasive non-police intervention available for situations that do not involve substantial risk of death or bodily harm to persons, including but not limited to, crises involving behavioral health and/or homelessness;

ii.

Design non-police crisis response teams to act as presumptive first responders where appropriate, which may include but is not limited to clinicians, community response workers, case managers, and trained peer support workers;

iii.

Develop a set of integrated crisis services that include, but are not limited to: screening, assessment, stabilization, and de-escalation; transportation and transport services where requested and as authorized; and follow-up support and connection to services;

iv.

Collaborate and coordinate with all emergency call and dispatch services and crisis hotlines to align protocols and identify, assess, and route appropriate calls for assistance;

v.

Contract or partner externally where necessary for safety, legal, financial, or clinical considerations;

vi.

Collect data and make public annual evaluation and continuous improvement reports, in collaboration with the advisory board, including analysis of volume and types of calls received, call diversion, triage, risk assessment, service provision and usage, demographics, and response times, subject to the restrictions of applicable federal and state law;

vii.

Conduct proactive community outreach.

c.

No provision of this section shall be construed to diminish any existing or future collective bargaining agreement, preexisting staffing or compensation decisions, or rights of employees of the City of Columbus.

(Ord. No. 0657-2026, § 1, 3-2-2026)