Mental Health Response Program

Members of the City's Mental Health Response Team, which include social worker Annette Amistadi (in green) and members of the Police and Fire departments.

In January 2022, the City officially launched its Mental Health Response Program. This innovative program, developed in collaboration with MetroHealth, was carefully designed to help the City's Police and Fire departments better respond to the mental health needs of the community. Specifically, the program embeds a full-time social worker, Annette Amistadi, with the City's Police and Fire departments. Amistadi works with our officers and firefighter/paramedics to meet the needs of residents experiencing a mental health crisis. This includes responding to 911 calls when appropriate and connecting residents with mental health resources as needed. The program also provides additional training in mental health response to our officers and firefighter/paramedics. 

Learn more about this program, which is serving as a model for other communities in Cuyahoga County, on this page.

Learn More

• Read the article Your City at Work: Mental Health Response Team in the Summer 2022 issue of Shaker Life Magazine
• Watch an update to City Council by clinician Annette Amistadi, MSW/LISW, Fire Chief Patrick Sweeney, and Police Chief Wayne Hudson on March 13, 2023
• Watch the Mayor's Report from May 19, 2023

In the News

• Shaker’s pilot Mental Health Response Program gets a look from new county executive (3/21/23, Cleveland.com)
• New Shaker Heights program aims to help first responders handle mental health emergencies (2/19/23, WKYC)
• Social worker embedded in Shaker Heights Police, Fire Departments for behavioral health calls (1/18/22, Cleveland News 5)
• Social workers to assist Shaker Heights safety forces with mental health crisis response (10/5/21, Cleveland Jewish News)
• Shaker Heights rolls out pilot program to deal with mental health crisis-intervention calls (2/16/21, Cleveland.com)