Gazette article

'It was desperate': How a Colorado county reimagined mental health crisis response

• TRICIA STORTZ Special to The Gazette

• Aug 16, 2025 Updated 15 hrs ago

  
  

When someone calls 911 for a mental health emergency in Summit County, it usually draws more than a law enforcement response.

Since 2019, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office has operated the System-wide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART), a specialized unit that pairs a plainclothes deputy with a licensed mental health clinician and a case manager. Together, they respond countywide to behavioral health crises, focusing on de-escalation, stabilization and connecting people to long-term care rather than defaulting to emergency rooms or jail.

The program’s impact is evident in recent data. According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office 2024 SMART program annual report, SMART responded to 1,396 active calls and completed 1,761 clinical follow-ups in 2024. The report also showed that 87 percent of clients were diverted from the emergency room, no use of force or arrests were made and first responders were freed up for 611 hours to return to other service calls.

These outcomes underscore how the program reduces strain on emergency systems while improving outcomes for both people in crisis and law enforcement.

However, Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons cautions that these numbers only tell part of the story. “Our stats tell one story,” he said. “But how do you account for the things that didn’t happen because of the crises you prevented? Those are the stories that you just can’t capture in numbers. The real story is the lives we’ve saved, the lives we’ve changed by keeping people stable in the community.”

To understand the program’s origins, it helps to look back to 2016, when a wave of suicides deeply impacted Summit County and law enforcement was simultaneously overwhelmed by mental health emergencies. At the time, most crisis calls ended with people being dropped off at the emergency room or taken to jail — places not designed for long-term mental health care.

“We broke the back of the ER because of the number of people with mental health issues we were dropping off,” FitzSimons recalled. 

Typically, those in crisis were placed on M1 holds (a legal process allowing involuntary psychiatric holds for evaluation) and transported out of the county, sometimes worsening their situation. “Everyone got shipped off somewhere,” FitzSimons said. “By the time you come back, sometimes you’re in a worse crisis than when you left because now you’ve lost your job, your apartment, your car, your dog.

“It was desperate, and nobody was coming to rescue us,” he added, referring to the lack of state funding for resources. “We had to self-rescue.”

In response, FitzSimons took action. He approached the state with a proposal: if they canceled the contract with the mental health center that was failing to serve Summit County and redirected the funding to his office, he would use the money to launch the SMART team. He also committed to creating a mental health and substance use team inside the Summit County Detention Facility.

Around the same time, Building Hope, a local nonprofit formed after the suicide of a beloved community member, brought together key stakeholders, including law enforcement, healthcare providers, and community leaders, to begin shaping a coordinated response tailored to the community’s needs.

In the years since, the SMART team has focused on stabilizing people in crisis where they are, helping them maintain their jobs, housing, and relationships. “Since our program, our stabilization rate is in the 90s,” FitzSimons said.

After providing an immediate crisis response, the team often makes "warm handoffs" to local organizations like Building Hope, which provide continued support.

Dylan Stein, care team coordinator at Building Hope, praised the approach. “The SMART team is amazing. I hope every community in the country adopts some form of co-responder service like the SMART team.

A full law enforcement response can be triggering for people in crisis. Police aren’t trained to be therapists, understandably, and we can’t expect them to wear every hat,” he said.

“This is a great program for everyone—for the community and for law enforcement. They assign case managers who work with people after a crisis. Once someone is stable, we at Building Hope can help connect them to long-term therapy, psychiatric care, or addiction counseling,” he added.

Despite its effectiveness, the SMART program faces ongoing challenges. Summit County still lacks inpatient treatment and sober living facilities, and funding remains an annual struggle. “Most of our programs are grant-funded, and every year we meet with hat in hand begging for money,” FitzSimons said.

“The money ebbs and flows. The more programs that start up around the state, which is great, the less money there is. And the state, as we all know, is in a budget crisis, and it’s only going to get worse.”

Still, even amid these hurdles, community trust and engagement have remained central to the program’s success. While the SMART team leads mental health crisis response efforts, it is the community’s involvement through volunteerism and nonprofit collaboration that truly sustains and strengthens the work over time.

“The community has been a part of it, part of the crisis, the rebirth, the whole journey,” FitzSimons said. “They fill gaps no one else can. You can’t put a price tag on that support.”

This deep partnership reflects the unique fabric of Summit County, where community members and responders work hand-in-hand to create solutions tailored to local needs. For counties considering similar programs, FitzSimons advises: “Include your community. It’s the community you’re responding to, the community you serve, and the one you’ve taken an oath to protect. Involve them from the beginning and build their support. Create a team that works for your specific community because it won’t look the same everywhere. Some places have clinicians and paramedics; others may not involve law enforcement at all. Every community is different, but you can’t go wrong if you design the program from the community up rather than from the sheriff or chief down.”