November 9-10, 2023 at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Call for proposals opens June 1, 2023; decisions will be made on July 21, 2023.
Registration opens July 15, 2023
Interested in attending or learning more? Please complete this short interest form.
Mobile crisis co-response teams at institutions of higher education can take many forms, but generally include a clinical or mental health support staff paired with police or public safety officers. An overarching goal of these teams is to provide real-time, responsive interventions to students and community members in distress. They offer an alternative to police/public safety as sole first responders, as well as augmenting existing mental health support that often occurs by phone.
As the field of mobile crisis co-response expands within college and university settings, there is much to learn from one another. This symposium aims to bring together institutions that have launched teams, and those who are in the planning and exploration stages. A key goal of the symposium is connecting institutions across the country to develop a community of practice that can maintain contact and provide peer support for this emerging best practice in higher education.
Who Should Attend
The Mobile Crisis Co-Response Symposium aims to bring together stakeholders from all levels including leadership, clinical staff, and public safety/police to share perspective and lessons learned to support the development of new teams, as well as to contribute to the development of best practices in the field. We encourage campuses to bring a team of up to four stakeholders, including clinical staff, public safety/police, and an administrator. While not all campuses may be able to bring stakeholders to participate in each track, we have found that an interdisciplinary approach is the best way to build or develop a team.
Location, Accommodations, and Other Details
Johns Hopkins University will host the symposium in Baltimore, MD and sponsor the program content, some meals, and a reception for up to 150 participants.
The symposium is an in-person only event; all travel and lodging expenses are the responsibility of the presenters. There is no registration fee to participate in the conference; breakfast, lunch, and a hearty appetizer reception on Thursday November 9, and breakfast on Friday November 10 will be provided by JHU. Discounted room rates are available at the Inn of the Colonnade, and shuttle service from the hotel to the symposium location will be provided.
Proposal Submission
In addition to keynote and general sessions where all participants will learn together, the program’s breakout sessions will have three “tracks” designed to provide relevant content to mental health clinicians, public safety/law enforcement, and administration/leadership. Individuals are welcome to submit more than one proposal if additional proposals are on a substantially different topic.
The planning committee welcomes proposals for all three tracks. Examples of session topics are listed below, but please feel free to be creative and bring your expertise to share! Breakout sessions will be 90 minutes in length to enable time for robust discussion and Q&A.
To submit your proposal, please use this form. Decisions will be made on July 21, 2023. All applicants (accepted or declined) will be notified of our decisions via email.
Sample Breakout Session Topics
Mental Health
- Working with clients who may be resistant to intervention
- Managing hospitalizations, decreasing involuntary admissions
- Approaches to effective safety planning for clients with suicidal ideation
- Case management and working with campus partners
- Communications challenges and opportunities with on-campus mental health services
- Other activities for crisis interventionists, staying occupied when call volume is low
- Collaboration with local crisis resources for non-affiliates
Police/Public Safety
- Training for officers (CIT and other models)
- Critical incident debriefing
- Building trust and rapport with co-responders
- Balancing scene safety with letting clinician take the lead
- Building a public safety program that is responsive to community needs
- Approaches to means restriction
- Navigating involuntary hospitalization process
Administration/Leadership
- Building an advisory council and community engagement
- Funding a co-responder program and building executive leadership support
- Communications and marketing strategies
- Confidentiality considerations
- Co-responder teams in context of larger police/public safety initiatives or conflicts on your campus
- DEIB implications like representation without tokenization and visibility within the community
- Choosing the model for your campus (grad student responders, clinicians, multi-campus teams)
- Assessment of program and measuring outcomes