New Kansas City program steers residents to mental health, drug care rather than custody

KANSAS CITY — You see someone in the midst of a mental breakdown, or high on drugs.

Call 911 and they may get arrested. Things could get worse from there. They might lose their job, their apartment. Rather than get the care that could pull them out of a crisis, they could land in custody and spiral into further trouble.

So a new program funded by the Kansas City Council offers another response: A call to an alternative number could hook the person up with a mental health clinician, a social worker or another professional to get them help.

Kansas City’s fledgling Responding with Empathetic Alternatives and Community Health, or REACH, program aims to cut crime and keep people committing nonviolent offenses out of jail.

The program launched in December and operates along the Prospect Avenue corridor from 27th Street to 45th Street. It offers a shortcut to help with homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse problems.

So instead of calling 911 and making it a police problem, residents can call 816-513-6010 or submit an inquiry at reach@kcmo.org to put REACH on the case.

“People don’t have to find themselves … in the criminal legal system in order to get the care they need,” said Derek Buford, a leader with Decarcerate KC, the organization behind the REACH campaign. “We cannot have the police be our care providers.”

How does the REACH non-emergency line work?

The Kansas City Council approved $1.2 million for the program, which sprang from a joint effort of the Kansas City Fire Department, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority and the Kansas City Police Department.

Representatives with the program said they are still establishing the hours of operation.

REACH was deployed along Prospect because of its high poverty rates and lack of community resources, factors that contribute to higher levels of crime. The Prospect Max bus between 27th and 45th streets will also be part of REACH’s coverage, meaning residents can call for assistance while using the bus in this area.

If it works, said 6th District Councilmember Johnathan Duncan, it will be expanded across the city.

The next expansion phase will be downtown, leaders with Decarcerate KC said.

Duncan said interest already exists to expand to the Hickman Mills and Ruskin neighborhoods.

Proponents say REACH will also ease the burden on police, 911 dispatchers and the courts.

“Keeping someone in the Jackson County jail costs around $2,000 per month per person,” Decarcerate KC leader Croatia Black said. “We are overfunding the police department and continuing to strengthen the system that we know isn’t working. This is giving a different option for how we deal with conflicts in our communities.”

Duncan said REACH is housed within the Kansas City Health Department and is in the process of hiring workers to answer calls and respond in person.

While REACH does not include police, he said KCPD has met with the REACH committee to ensure that officers in the field understand the program and can request help from it.

“An officer’s main objective is to enforce the law,” Duncan said. “The purpose around this is to ensure that we’re not responding to every problem with a hammer because not all problems are nails.”

The Kansas City Fire Department or paramedics may respond alongside REACH in cases involving medical issues.

This story was originally published by The Beacon, an online news outlet focused on local, in-depth journalism in the public interest.