(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced a proposal to expand the city’s dual dispatch pilot program to seven days a week and hire more behavioral health responders.

Harrell’s proposal would add 21 positions to the Community Assisted Response and Engagement team, which is also referred to as the CARE team. The positions would consist of 18 CARE team responders and three supervisors added over the next few months.

The proposal for the additional 21 positions will be included in Harrell’s mid-year supplemental budget request, with costs for the remainder of 2024 being fully funded through $1.9 million in federal funding supported by U.S. Reps. Adam Smith and Pramila Jayapal.

Seattle launched the CARE team as a pilot program last fall. The department features behavioral health specialists, who have prior field experience and higher education credentials in behavioral health. The department was funded $26.5 million for this year.

The program pairs CARE responders with Seattle Police Department officers when the 911 Center answers an emergency call. When police officers ensure the scene is safe, they can respond to other calls while the CARE team provides services.

Along with more responders, the CARE team will also extend its current service area from the downtown area, SODO, and the Chinatown-International District to additional Seattle neighborhoods including Capitol Hill, Central Area, First Hill, Judkins Park, Madison Park and Montlake.

Seattle also intends to purchase additional vehicles for the new teams and adjust operating hours to noon to 10 p.m. based on call data.

As part of the expansion plan, the CARE department will launch new partnerships with Seattle University, the University of Washington, Crisis Solutions Center and others.

The mayor also announced that he will nominate CARE Acting Chief Amy Smith to serve as the department’s permanent chief. Smith’s appointment is subject to Seattle City Council approval.

“Since we launched this innovative public safety pilot, the CARE responder team has done outstanding work to both help people in need and to free up police officers to respond to the calls where they’re needed most,” Harrell said in a news release. “That’s why we are announcing our plan to expand CARE to answer calls citywide, seven days a week.”

The Care team responded to over 500 dispatch calls since it launched last fall. According to the city, the average response time is less than 10 minutes and an average time on scene of 39 minutes.

Approximately 88% of calls for the CARE team came primarily from police officers requesting assistance and the remaining 12% were dispatched from the 9-1-1 Center for known high utilizers of emergency services.

The city noted an analysis of 9-1-1 calls in Seattle last year found approximately 8,000 calls that could be responded to by the CARE Community Crisis response team under expansion plans.