Largest-Ever Cohort Set to Receive Applied Research Support and Technical Assistance to Advance Unarmed Alternative Emergency Responses
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) today announced 14 members will participate in its 2023–24 Alternative 911 Emergency Response Implementation Cohort, an initiative designed to support city and county leaders in developing, improving, and expanding unarmed alternative responses to 911 calls.
The 10 new Cohort members are: Alexandria, VA; Amherst, MA; Baltimore, MD; Cambridge, MA; City of Lawrence/Douglas County, KS; City of Los Angeles, CA; City of Madison/Dane County, WI; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; and Tucson, AZ.
Additionally, the GPL will continue to support the four members from the 2022–23 Cohort: Allegheny County, PA; Chicago, IL; San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, CA; and Washington, DC.
“Building on the momentum of participating jurisdictions that have launched, sustained, and scaled alternative response teams over the past two years, we are thrilled to welcome our largest Cohort yet,” said GPL Executive Director Gloria Gong. “We have heard both from leaders across the country and families who have been impacted by interactions with police that their communities need to reimagine their approaches to public safety. Our Cohort’s rapid growth reflects this rising national commitment to ensuring people in crisis receive the right response at the right time.”
Many jurisdictions are grappling with how to address police shortages, refocus resources on public safety, and reduce over-reliance on traditional law enforcement, especially in communities of color. The Alternative 911 Emergency Response Implementation Cohort helps participating jurisdictions develop, improve, or expand alternative approaches that can safely redirect emergency calls to unarmed responders. Those responders are equipped with the tools necessary to resolve a crisis without creating unnecessary criminal justice system involvement.
Through the Cohort, the GPL provides jurisdictions with pro bono applied research support and technical assistance on an array of innovative approaches to alternative response. This includes supporting jurisdictions in researching and testing approaches to analyzing 911 call data and designing call decision trees, creating training curriculum for response teams and 911 staff, procuring services from local providers, writing responder team protocols and procedures, tracking key performance metrics to guide program iteration, identifying barriers to diverting 911 calls eligible for alternative response, and more.
The GPL selected the 2023–24 Cohort from a highly competitive applicant pool of 40 jurisdictions around the country. Selection criteria included the jurisdiction’s vision and commitment to equitably improving community safety and wellbeing; support from local leaders; collaboration across government departments; and commitment to have alternative response teams respond directly to 911 calls. The GPL also runs a community of practice composed of more than 240 representatives from over 70 jurisdictions.
Since launching in September 2021, the GPL’s Alternative 911 Emergency Response Implementation Cohort has directly supported 9 Cohort members representing 17 jurisdictions in piloting or improving their alternative 911 emergency response program. To date, the GPL has supported four jurisdictions in launching new teams to dispatch directly from their 911 call centers and three in expanding their existing efforts. In the coming months, three other participating jurisdictions are set to expand, and one is one is on track to launch.
Harris County, Texas, an inaugural Cohort participant, announced a significant expansion of its alternative response program in May, adding more than 200 miles to its coverage area.
"We are truly grateful to the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab for their technical assistance and applied research support of our Holistic Alternative Responder Team (HART) program,” said Harris County Public Health Executive Director Barbie L. Robinson. “With an initial goal of responding to 750 calls, the HART program has responded to more than 2,200 calls over the last year and will expand into additional communities in Harris County. The GPL played a critical role by bringing together county partners to help build consensus and support for the development of our alternative response model. We couldn’t have accomplished this without their leadership and support.”
About the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab
The Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL), based in the School’s Taubman Center for State and Local Government, supports state and local governments across the country in designing and implementing solutions to pressing social problems. The GPL has conducted over 240 projects in more than 100 jurisdictions, helping innovative state and local government leaders improve the results they achieve for their residents. An important part of the GPL’s research model involves capturing the insights, tools and practices that are gained through these hands-on projects and sharing them with government leaders across the country.
Contacts:
Gabi Remz
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