Alternative Call to 911
Call 800-FACT-400 [800-322-8400] instead of 911
Living in our area, we have all have witnessed where a person is acting out in a way that you debate whether to call 911 or not. Mental illness is the cause and wonder what the police can do. Do you call 911, especially when the police responded too strongly instead of in a medical calming way.
The city of Chicago has a pilot program that covers parts of Chicago. Outside of Uptown, this program does not cover the Far North side of Chicago.
Rogers Park-based Trilogy rolled out its mental health emergency responder program. The First-response Alternative Crisis Team, or FACT, is part of a statewide program providing alternatives to calling 911 for those experiencing mental health issues.
For mentioned incidents, instead of call 911, call:
800-FACT-400 [800-322-8400]
Trilogy’s team has set up its own crisis hotline people can call, and request first responders trained in mental health services. The program responds to calls in Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown and West Ridge, as well as Evanston and Skokie.
The first responder is now avaiable 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Trilogy’s first responder model works much like calling 911.
When they get a call to the crisis line, a dispatcher determines if the situation is appropriate for mental health first responders.
If so, a team of two will respond to the scene to offer services and resources. The team then follows up with the person to make sure their needs are being met and offer more help if necessary.
Some calls might not be deemed crises or emergencies, but Trilogy may still send a team to offer preventative services, Mayer said.
If the dispatcher suspects a call is medical emergency, they will call for paramedics. If the dispatcher believes there is the threat of violence — for example, if a weapon is nearby or if someone has already been hurt — they will call for police.
Even in those cases where 911 is needed, Trilogy will still send a team to the scene to help oversee the response.
For more information about Trilogy, click https://www.trilogyinc.org/
Some information is from 25 January 2022 Block Club article.