ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Catherine Kaufman isn’t your typical 911 operator.
She shifts from attending emergency calls to now handling mental health-related calls, in the role of Arapahoe County’s inaugural behavioral health dispatch specialist.
She’s joining the county’s growing Behavioral Health Response Team, created to expand its mental health related services to citizens.
“Maybe they’re just calling because they need to talk. Sometimes I just do plain old crisis counseling,” Kaufman explained.
She handles the low-risk calls — ones where it’s determined there’s no risk of self-harm or harm to others.
“Being situated in dispatch means we no longer need to deploy deputies and co-responders on the ground, conserving resources, time, and keeping them available for more critical cases,” Kaufman explained.
In the event the call escalates, a co-responder steps in.
Arapahoe County has used co-responders since 2019 — licensed therapists who respond to mental health calls out in the field.
COURTESY: Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office
The team responded to about 2,400 calls for service in 2023.
That number went up by 200 in the last year.
“Last year, we secured a grant enabling the hiring of an additional staff member to join us in dispatch. Catherine was brought in three months ago to not only support dispatchers but also assist co-responders,” mentioned Julie Jacobs, the behavioral health program manager.
Kaufman’s position is a first-of-its-kind in the state of Colorado.
“We have not been able to find any programs here in the state of Colorado to model after, so we just did a lot of research of looking at what other agencies throughout the country are doing, and took little bits and pieces of those models and made it out into our own,” said Jacobs.
It’s not just crisis counseling, though.
Say you call 911 during an emergency. If dispatchers sense you’re in a panic, you may end up on the phone with Kaufman.
“They get there as fast as they can, but they can’t get there immediately. And I can be there immediately,” said Kaufman. “I’ll just stay on the phone with them right then and talk to them and try to keep them calm while they’re waiting for help to come.”
“We’re really proud of this program. We know we have a lot of room to grow, but that’s our goal, to keep expanding,” said Jacobs.
As the behavioral health response team continues to pave the way for other agencies in Colorado, Kaufman told Denver7 it’s been a fulfilling start so far.
“It just doesn’t get old when someone thanks me for helping them,” said Kaufman, “I do a follow up call, and they’re so grateful that we’re thinking of them and that we’re concerned about them, and it’s just really rewarding.”
Arapahoe County is currently hiring another co-responder as the team continues to grow. If you are interested in providing mental health services to the community, click here.
Behavioral health specialist joins Arapahoe County’s emergency dispatch team
