'Crisis to Care Collaborative' launched to transform behavioral health crisis response in Erie County 

New regional initiative will improve coordination and effectiveness of behavioral health crisis response system, helping individuals receive right care for their recovery

Press Release

On Tuesday, various public, private, health care and nonprofit sector leaders from across the Western New York region gathered to unveil the “Crisis to Care Collaborative” – an innovative effort aimed at improving the response to people experiencing a mental health emergency.

Early activities of the Crisis to Care Collaborative include an unprecedented analysis of 911 data, which national experts conducted through support provided by the Patrick P. Lee Foundation, a key funding partner in the initiative. As an example, across Erie County in 2024, 911 call takers identified 21,000 calls annually (or approximately 60 calls each day) that are mental health related. In just the City of Buffalo alone, 911 dispatched police almost 7,000 times in 2024 due to an individual having a behavioral health-related crisis needing immediate assistance.

“The Crisis to Care Collaborative is about building the system our community deserves,” City of Buffalo Mayor Christopher Scanlon said. “It will draw on important preliminary steps we have taken, such as the establishment of the Buffalo Police Department’s behavioral health team, which pairs specially trained officers with mental health clinicians from Endeavor Health Services.”

According to data provided by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, one out of four people in the Erie County Holding Center has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

“Whether you look at it from a health, public safety, or fiscal perspective, depending on a jail to treat people with untreated mental illness is simply a bad approach. This initiative can change that,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said.

“A behavioral health emergency requires a behavioral health response,” said Erie County Commissioner of Mental Health Sarah Bonk, LMSW. “BestResponse, for instance, is the intensive crisis stabilization center (ICSC) that BestSelf will open later this year with a focus on providing an alternative to CPEP (the hospital-based comprehensive psychiatric emergency program at ECMC), or the holding center where first-responders can bring someone in crisis.”

“When police officers take someone to ECMC, they know it will likely take a few hours before the person needing mental health services is screened,” Erie County Commissioner of Central Police Services Brian Ross said. “The new ICSC, where officers can get back in service within minutes, could be a total game-changer.”

Leadership of the Crisis to Care Collaborative includes a steering committee consisting of Bonk, LMSW, Deputy Erie County Executive Lisa Chimera, Garcia, Erie County Medical Center CEO Dr. Thomas Quatroche Jr., Ross and Scanlon.

“Our success depends on collaboration across many independent government agencies and both for- and nonprofit providers of health services,” Chimera said. “The Crisis to Care Collaborative brings together more than 50 key stakeholders and professionals from a wide range of organizations.”

With help from the Patrick P. Lee Foundation and the national experts engaged by the collaborative, these stakeholders will analyze various data points and explore new, innovative approaches that focus on:

•Someone to Call – Enhancing how behavioral health-related crisis calls are identified, triaged and managed. 

•Someone to Respond – Ensuring crisis lines can dispatch mobile behavioral health teams and co-response units as alternatives to traditional police, fire or EMS responses. 

•Somewhere to Go – Expanding access to effective stabilization services, so individuals in crisis have a safe, appropriate place to receive immediate care.

“The launch of the Crisis to Care Collaborative comes at a critical time for Erie County,” Quatroche said. “Our dedicated team works around the clock to get folks the care they need. However, many individuals are unable to receive care because they do not meet CPEP’s clinical criteria, leaving them without support at a crucial moment and deepening their distrust in a system that should be there to help.”

“What this collaborative is launching in Erie County is special not just for New York state, but for the entire United States,” said Former New York State Commissioner of Mental Health Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D., a nationally recognized architect of the framework that state and local governments everywhere are using to improve crisis response. “The effort is now entering its critical next phase: forming dedicated workgroups, engaging the community, deepening data analysis, and ultimately developing a clear, actionable roadmap for lasting change.”

The Crisis to Care Collaborative is driven by the leadership and funding of the Patrick P. Lee Foundation, with assistance from the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation.

“At its heart, this groundbreaking effort is about making sure people experiencing a behavioral health crisis receive timely, compassionate care,” said Patrick P. Lee Foundation Executive Director Jane Mogavero. “We need a system that puts recovery first – not one where we make law enforcement our default response and then give them no options to connect someone to care – other than the holding center or CPEP.”

To learn more, visit CrisisToCare.org.