Cookeville received the Excellence in Fire Service award from the Tennessee Municipal League for a program that pairs emergency responders with mental health professionals to handle behavioral health crises.
The Cookeville Community Response program involves a partnership between the Cookeville Fire Department, Cookeville Police Department, NAMI Tennessee, and Volunteer Behavioral Health Services. The initiative aims to provide specialized services to residents suffering from mental health issues rather than relying on jail or emergency rooms.
The CCR program pairs a licensed mental health clinician with a fire department-based emergency medical technician to respond to non-violent behavioral health incidents. The model is the first of its kind in the region and uses a dispatch-driven triage system to divert calls from traditional police and emergency medical services.
The program incorporates Crisis Intervention Team training for all emergency personnel to expand behavioral health response capabilities. On-scene professionals provide assessment, de-escalation, and direct connection to community resources like housing assistance and treatment programs.
The initiative has reduced jail admissions, incarceration costs, and emergency medical transports while improving response availability for other emergencies. The press release said the approach is designed to break the cycle of repeated emergency system use for individuals with complex challenges.
The Tennessee Municipal League will present the award at its 86th annual conference hosted at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center in Kingsport.