By Jon Huang
Sgt. John Hammond of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office initiated the Behavioral Health Connect program in 2017, when he recognized that for many citizens experiencing a mental health crisis, 911 had become the first line outlet.
BHCON (pronounced beacon) consists of four teams, each one composed of a mental health clinician employed by UCHealth Hospital System and an EPSO deputy. Two teams currently cover the Fountain and Security Widefield region while two teams cover the rest of El Paso County. The teams are directly dispatched through the 911 center.
Katie (who did not want to use her last name) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with BHCON. She has been with the department four years and has worked as a social worker for 17. Prior to this, she has worked in schools, adult daycares and juvenile corrections.
“We go to everything from suicidal check to welfare (checks) to drug-induced psychosis to there’s somebody standing on the side of the road that acts like they may not understand what’s going on,” Katie said. “What we get a lot is ‘they’re acting crazy.’ We get a lot of unfortunately completed suicides that we go to.”
With each trip, a deputy first ensures the safety of the scene and then a licensed mental health clinician will follow to help further de-escalate the situation, which frees non-BHCON deputies to address other calls. Katie’s longest call was 11 hours but the average call takes two and a half hours. If additional assistance is required after doing their initial assessment, the clinician can admit the patient to a hospital or directly to other local mental health facilities. When possible, the team will transport people themselves either to the hospital or directly to a mental health treatment facility, avoiding the high costs of ambulance and hospitalization.
In 2023, EPSO 911 Dispatch received 4,178 mental health related calls. EPSO was able to respond to 813. Of those, 71% were for suicide related and welfare checks.
“We get a number of those every week, sometimes every day,” Katie said. “We get them from doctor’s offices. We get them from family members. We get them from the client themselves. Sometimes we get them from random strangers.”
Just recently they had a call from a dentist office.
When they arrive, the nature of intervention depends on the situation.
“We do talk people off of bridges. I talk a lot of people into putting their guns down so that they don’t shoot themselves, and so that I can talk to them and get them that help and support,” she said.
The team tries to keep people safe at home and do as many interventions on scene as feasible. They will enact safety plans, including providing med boxes, gun locks and gun safes or help people surrender firearms to a friend. BHCON also has a case worker who helps the team connect with patients between the in-person encounters.
Sometimes, a Mental Health Hold can be placed on someone who meets the designated state criteria. An M1 places a patient in an involuntary 72-hour inpatient hold to safely get a person the necessary help he or she needs. To meet the criteria, a patient must be actively suicidal, actively homicidal, with a plan and an intent; or “gravely disabled,” which means that they cannot care for themselves because of a mental illness.
Another organization BHCON works with is the statewide, multi-disciplinary “Safe2Tell” initiative, which allows community members and students to call in anonymously to report safety concerns and provide additional information for first responders.
According to the Colorado Department of Public Health, El Paso County regularly leads the state in completed suicides. In 2023, there were 196 completed suicides. In these situations, BHCON’s approach often shifts toward supporting friends and family. This can involve working with partner organizations such as Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership to connect families with other survivors of family members of completed suicides. Sometimes it’s much simpler.
“A lot of times it’s just sitting in silence,” Katie said. “A lot of times, it’s just so that they know that I’m there. They have to make some decisions, and those decisions are really, really hard, going through a traumatic experience like that. Sometimes it’s just nice to have someone next to them that is just sitting and saying, ‘Yep, this is the next step that we need to do.’”
One of the main goals of BHCON is to help avoid unnecessary incarcerations that would exacerbate a person’s tenuous mental health situation. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, about two and five people incarcerated have a history of mental illness. As a result, America’s jails and prisons have become de-facto mental health providers, at great cost to the well-being of people with mental health conditions and financial cost to taxpayers.
According to EPSO-compiled statistics, of the 836 individuals the team served in 2023, BHCON diverted people from the emergency room 91% of the time and the jail 99% of the time; 56% of those individuals were able to be treated in place; 6% required M1 holds.
While the work they do is effective, one of the current challenges is having enough staff to keep up with call volume in a geographical region the size of Delaware. Some drives take a few minutes while others take up to 90 minutes. In addition to the four current teams, BHCON partners with the Manitou Springs Crisis Response Team, which is structured and functions similarly, to address cases on the west side of Colorado Springs and up the pass. Over the next couple years, EPSO plans to add a couple more teams.
Despite the grim and difficult nature of the work, Katie said there is a sense of purpose in what she does.
“I will say this is probably my all-time favorite social work job I’ve ever had in my life,” Katie said. “I love this job. I love what we do every single day.”
If you or someone you know is suicidal, call 988 for the 24/7 Suicide and Crisis hotline
For more information about Safe2Tell program, please visit: https://safe2tell.org/faq
For additional information regarding BHCON visit: https://www.epcsheriffsoffice.com/sections-law-enforcement-bureau/patrol-division/bhcon-
