This research review is an introduction to the comprehensive “Best Practice Guide” for crisis response, and presents the available research on the implementation and impact of law enforcement-based case management services across communities.
This chapter is part of a larger, comprehensive “Best Practice Guide” for crisis response. It serves as a review of research that is currently available about the implementation and impact of law enforcement-based case management services (case management teams) across communities. No peer-reviewed research related to case management services was identified by the authors, however, a case study of Houston’s Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative (CCSI) provides preliminary descriptive evidence on outcomes associated with this law-enforcement based case management services response model. Another key example of this response model is the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Case Assessment and Management Program (CAMP). Key takeaways include: case management teams are the partnership of police officers with behavioral health professionals specializing in the identification, engagement, and case management of individuals living with serious mental illness (SMI) who routinely come into contact with the police and emergency services; case management teams are an emerging practice and much of what is known comes from two key examples from Texas and California; further work is needed in order to build evidence, and no peer-reviewed research examining the implementation of case management teams was identified by the authors but preliminary descriptive evidence from Houston’s CCSI case study suggests that case management services may reduce contact with police as well as the frequency of hospitalization among individuals with SMI.