COLUMBUS — Columbus is looking for residents to help oversee a new program that will send clinicians, rather than police officers, to some emergency calls involving mental health crises.
Applications are open through Oct. 23 on the city’s website for the inaugural 15-member Community Crisis Response Advisory Board. City Council and Mayor Andrew Ginther plan to appoint the board in early November, with a first meeting expected by the end of that month, according to a council announcement.
The board grows out of Issue 5, the ballot measure voters approved with about 77 percent support. It commits the city to begin operating non-police crisis teams by February 2028 and to make them available around the clock by Feb. 1, 2030.
The advisory panel will oversee both the forthcoming program and the city’s existing alternative response efforts, including a pilot that pairs clinicians with police on some calls. Legislation passed in June committed the city to seating the board by the end of November.
Advocates who pushed Issue 5 had raised concerns that the city was moving too slowly to put the measure into practice, and welcomed the applications opening on Oct. 6. Residents interested in serving can apply through the city’s website before the Oct. 23 deadline.