Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misspelled Cmdr. Mark Heyart’s name. The story has been updated.
The University of Colorado Boulder Police Department and campus therapists are working together to help students in crisis through a new telehealth program.
Before the program launched in October, CUPD officers responding to a student in crisis could take them to the on-campus Counseling and Psychiatric Services during business hours or to the hospital after hours.
Now, a therapist is on-call during select times during nights and weekends to talk to students in crisis by video or phone call. Those times are when the department usually receives the most mental-health-related calls.
The two departments already worked together, said Cmdr. Mark Heyart and Associate Director of Clinical Services Judy Taub, and realized expanding the collaboration made sense.
“Historically we have relied on CUPD to help us when we were hospitalizing students, and as Mark and I started working together, we realized a lot of the CUPD calls separate from CAPS were mental health-related and it made sense to provide additional support on those calls, to provide continuity of care,” Taub said.
CUPD received 420 calls for welfare checks in 2019, and 100 of those resulted in the student being placed on a mental health hold, Heyart said.
Calls come from family members, friends, faculty or staff, and responding officers are trained to assess whether the person is a danger to themselves or others and if they are “gravely disabled,” a technical term for someone unable to provide for their own basic needs.
With the new telehealth program, students in crisis can be immediately connected to an on-call therapist by secure video chat or phone call.
From there, the officers step back and the therapist assesses if the student can make a plan to stay safe and meet in person with a therapist as soon as possible, or if they need to go to the hospital for additional care.
“Previously, a student would be given resources but CAPS wouldn’t know about it and we wouldn’t be able to follow up or schedule an appointment with that student,” Taub said.
So far, the program has been used 15 times to connect a student in crisis with a therapist — five times by video, and 10 times by phone.
In a recent call, CUPD officers came into contact with a student who they had once before transported to the hospital for an involuntary mental health hold and had been “very afraid” during the experience, Heyart said.
But this time, the student was able to talk with a therapist and eventually walked himself to an ambulance to be transported.
“It was a much better outcome in this case for that individual,” Heyart said. “They’re not in danger, we’re not in danger and there’s a different flow to the interaction.”
Taub and Heyart have already expanded the program, from having a therapist on-call for six hours a week when the program began in October to now having a therapist available 13 hours a week.
Many local law enforcement agencies also work with mental health professionals when responding to people in crisis. Longmont and Boulder police and Boulder County sheriff’s officers have all developed programs to have mental health professionals join officers on mental health calls.
As a telehealth program, the CU Boulder model isn’t exactly like that, but it’s a hybrid that’s working well, Heyart said.
“The support levels are really what (officers) appreciate the most, that they see the ability to not only support them as an officer in the field and making sure they’re doing the right thing, but that the students are finding success with it,” he said.
Resources for those in crisis
If facing an emergency: Call 911
CU Boulder Counseling & Psychiatric Services: 303-492-2277
Mental Health Partners: To request services, 303-443-8500; walk-in center, 3180 Airport Road, Boulder, 303-447-1665
Colorado crisis hotline: 1-844-493-8255 (TALK) or, text “TALK” to 38255
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK)