Overview
- Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Wednesday that CARE will serve all 22 police districts, extending a non-police response to mental health and socio-emotional distress across the city.
- The expansion doubles alternate-response vans from four to eight with about 20 staff split into North and South zones, while service remains limited to weekday daytime hours and to calls without reported violence or weapons.
- The city is using $31 million in remaining federal pandemic funds to launch the scale-up, and officials say future growth depends on a proposed per-user social media tax that tech companies are challenging in court.
- Teams will now respond to a wider range of needs, including youth as young as six and adults over 65 in distress, with access through 911 requests or a non-urgent email option that aims to schedule a visit within 72 hours.
- Independent reporting says CARE has handled only a small share of 911 calls tagged as mental-health-related and critics warn the limited hours leave gaps, while the program has evolved since 2021 from a police co-responder model to a health-only team under the public health department.