Quick Emergency Response to Youth in Crisis to Expand Statewide

A program designed to substitute mental health professionals and social workers for police in swift responses to youth crises in schools, homes, and elsewhere is about to go statewide.

The program is designed to have a response team on site within an hour of a call, trained to calm the situation, and then establish a plan for up to six weeks of follow-up counseling and care at home.

The program is expected to expand from 55 counties to all 88, filling gaps currently scattered across the state. Mr. DeWine noted that when he took office in 2019, just 13 counties were served by the program.