LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A mental health service through Louisville's 911 call center is expanding.

City leaders announced on Tuesday that phones at the Crisis Call Diversion Program (CCDP) called "Deflection" will be open longer. The current hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Starting Sunday, Feb. 4, calls will be answered until 2 a.m., so it will operate 16 hours a day for seven days a week.

A pilot program began in March 2022 to divert calls involving mental health crisis cases to trained operators or counselors. The goal was to free up police officers to handle violent crime. 

Emergency Services executive director Jody Meiman said the program started in Louisville Metro Police's Fourth Division because that area generated the most mental health calls. 

"By tracking when and where calls that meet the criteria of the program are coming in from, it showed us where we should go next, which was to expand service hours through the daytime and into the late hours of the night to get people the right help they need on the spot," Meiman said. 

Since the CCDP began, the CCDP has resulted in more than 2,700 Crisis Triage Worker (CTW) encounters, with the average encounter lasting about 16 minutes, but some encounters can last more than an hour.

In 2023, the MetroSafe 911 Center deflected more than 1,800 calls to a non-police response. The Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) made more than 700 mobile runs to help nearly 500 individuals, with the average mobile encounter lasting about 40 minutes in duration. 

LMPD Deputy Chief Steven Healey said Deflection efforts have helped save the department hundreds of hours of time that might have been spent on the calls and focus on violent crime.

"With this change, even more people across global will be able to benefit from these services, and our police officers will have more hours available for their central time that can be focused on preventing and responding to violent crime. We're going to keep moving with urgency to expand important services like this," Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

The service differs from 988, the suicide prevention line by following up with callers, and offering resources like transportation to area hospitals or connecting with loved ones to provide additional support. The goal is to provide this service for the city 24/7 and to use it as a national model.

As of Feb. 4, Seven Counties Services will have 34 staff members dedicated to Deflection response, including 11 CTWs at MetroSafe and 19 Mobile Crisis Responders responding in the field. Seven Counties Services will continue to hire more people to meet the goal of having the CCDP operate 24/7. 

Nicole Wiseman, Unit Manager for Deflection, Seven Counties Services said its counselors are trying to break the cycle of unnecessary hospitalization and incarceration.

"Our services are voluntary, trauma-informed, person centered, and focused on harm reduction. We seek to provide care in the least restrictive, least invasive way possible. We seek to collaborate with our community partners to provide the best care possible to individuals in crisis,"  Wiseman said. 

With only eight hours unmanned, leaders said the major roadblock they now face is staffing. They hope to soon hire more people to answer the phones and help those in need.

Those interested in a career with Seven Counties working in the CCDP can click here and search for Deflection. 

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