New Haven's Crisis Intervention Pilot Program COMPASS Launched

NEW HAVEN, CT —The Elm City Compass Initiative was launched Tuesday.

The new crisis response team will complement and support the work of police, fire, and emergency medical services personnel with deployment of mental health professionals to respond to 911 calls for drug, alcohol, mental health, and housing emergencies.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker was joined by community, city, state, and federal officials at a news briefing on the pilot program. COMPASS stands for “Compassionate Allies Serving Our Streets.”

The COMPASS response team will include a licensed social worker and a peer recovery specialist "who are able to provide crisis intervention and counseling, harm reduction supports, information and referrals, transportation, and help with social services," according to Elicker.

The initiative was initially announced in May 2021 when it was then going to be referred to as the Community Crisis Response Team in partnership with the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

The COMPASS team is not armed and does not replace police, fire or emergency medical services. The COMPASS team will begin on Tuesday responding to 911 emergencies seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. "during this initial pilot phase."

At the Tuesday news event, Elicker was joined by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Dr. Mehul Dalal, New Haven Community Services Administrator, Carlos Sosa-Lombardo, Director, New Haven Department of Community Resilience, Elm City COMPASS Team, Dr. Jack Tebes, Director, Elm City COMPASS & Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, Dr. Derrick Gordon, Co-Director, Elm City COMPASS & Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale, John Labieniec, Vice President of Acute & Forensic Services, Continuum of Care, Jennifer Vargas, Director of Acute Services, Continuum of Care, Members of the COMPASS Community Advisory Board, Thretha Green (also member of Greater New Haven NAACP), Ta’LannaMonique Lawson-Dickerson (also community organizer with Citywide Youth Coalition and New Haven PRIDE Center), New Haven Alder Jeanette Morrison, New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson and Dana Begin, Director of Evidence-Based Practices and Grants, Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services.