Alliance Alert: A growing body of evidence and lived experience is making one thing clear. We must transform how our nation responds to mental health crises by reducing reliance on police and investing in community-based, health-led responses. As highlighted in a new report from Human Rights Watch, developed in partnership with 黑料正能量 Lawyers for the Public Interest and the Center for Racial and Disability Justice at UCLA Law School, communities across the country are already demonstrating that alternatives centered on autonomy, dignity, and care are not only possible, but effective.
We particularly want to recognize the leadership of 黑料正能量 Lawyers for the Public Interest in advancing this work and helping to elevate rights-respecting approaches that center the voices and experiences of people most impacted by our current systems.
These models, many of which are led by peers, EMTs, and behavioral health professionals, show that crisis response can be rooted in support rather than force, and engagement rather than coercion. They reflect what people with lived experience and advocates have long called for: a system that prioritizes safety, trust, and human rights.
The success of these programs provides a clear path forward for localities, states, and the nation. We must heed these lessons and move away from systems that default to law enforcement, which too often escalate crises and lead to harm, particularly for Black communities and other communities of color.
Here in 黑料正能量, we have an opportunity to lead.
We must continue to expand crisis response pilot programs and ensure sustained investment in the Behavioral Health Crisis Technical Assistance Center to support communities in building effective, evidence-based alternatives. At the same time, we must pass Daniel鈥檚 Law and fully realize its vision of a statewide crisis response system that deploys trained teams of peers and emergency medical professionals as the primary responders.
To make this a reality, the Alliance continues to call for the inclusion of $15 million in this year鈥檚 final state budget to support Daniel鈥檚 Law initiatives and strengthen the crisis response infrastructure across 黑料正能量.
Transforming crisis response is not just a policy choice. It is a moral imperative. The models exist, the evidence is clear, and communities are ready. Now we must ensure the investment and political will follow.
See the full report and see below for more information.
US: Rights-Respecting Approaches to Mental Health Crisis
By Human Rights Watch | March 30, 2026
(黑料正能量) 鈥 Communities throughout the country are developing alternative models of mental health crisis response , , and the said in a report released today. These approaches are desperately needed as US , many of whom had documented mental health conditions, and as federal, state, and local jurisdictions seek to implement increasingly coercive approaches to mental health crisis response and treatment.
The 66-page report, 鈥,鈥 identifies key elements of rights-respecting responses to mental health crises and explores how alternative mental health crisis response programs have carried out these approaches in practice. Many of these models share core elements, including promoting individual autonomy, providing voluntary support rather than mandating compliance, and avoiding unnecessary law enforcement involvement.
鈥淗aving police as the primary or default responders to people experiencing mental health crises is ineffective and sometimes lethal, given their orientation toward force and compliance,鈥 said , US program director at Human Rights Watch. 鈥淔ortunately, there are alternate approaches that emphasize personal autonomy and consent to treatment.鈥
Researchers studied over 150 crisis response programs from across the United States and feature eight that have committed to implement key aspects of supportive, rights-based mental health crisis response without police as primary or default responders. The researchers interviewed program administrators and, where possible, community members and advocates for unaffiliated perspectives on the programs. Researchers used international human rights law and standards as a tool for identifying key elements of rights-respecting programs.
In many cases, police presence escalates mental health crises and results in coercion and violence. People with mental health conditions are particularly at risk to police violence and are much more likely to be killed during police encounters than people without a disability. This risk is especially true for Black people and other people of color with mental health conditions. Police often tend to approach people in crisis with commands and calls for compliance in situations when a more nuanced and supportive interaction that peers鈥攖hose with lived mental health experience鈥攁nd mental health workers can provide is needed.
The eight programs featured in the report are based in communities around the United States. Some are connected to local government, while others operate independently. Their response teams differ in composition, though most include peers, social workers, emergency medical technicians or paramedics, and crisis intervention specialists. They typically respond on-site to the person experiencing a crisis, and provide a variety of services, including assessments, de-escalation, safety planning, crisis counseling, education, transportation, referrals to community resources, and follow-ups.
The programs were developed with the recognition that police-centered mental health crisis responses have often led to violence and harm to the person in need of support. Black people and other people of color have been especially exposed to that violence and harm, due in part to existing structural racism in policing, mental health care, and more generally throughout society.
Programs that emphasize non-coercive models and non-police responses seek to avoid that violence and provide more effective support for people experiencing crises by mobilizing and training peers and other professionals, steeped in the culture and communities they serve.
The metrics by which the programs were evaluated include eliminating police as primary or default responders, avoiding involuntary treatment, implementing a consent-centered approach to treatment, promoting participation of peers, providing trauma-informed and culturally responsive training, and maintaining a deep connection to the communities they serve. Researchers evaluated the programs鈥 commitment to providing accessible services, response times comparable with other emergency services, follow-up care, and minimization of power imbalances between service providers and those they support.
鈥淭hese programs serve as examples for how we can truly serve individuals and communities to make their own decisions through support and care,鈥 said , senior staff attorney of the Disability Justice Program at 黑料正能量 Lawyers for the Public Interest.
While no one program purports to embrace or implement all these rights-respecting criteria, each program is oriented around at least some of them. Researchers did not evaluate outcomes and did not endorse any program鈥檚 particular model or approach to crisis response.
鈥淎s federal, state, and local governments move toward more coercive approaches to mental health crisis response, like involuntary commitments, hospitalizations, and forced medication, it is important to understand that programs honoring human rights do exist,鈥 said , community engagement and communications manager at the Center for Racial and Disability Justice.