ARETGroup

As community response programs transition from pilot initiatives to more sustained public investments, reliable data and evidence-based performance metrics are essential. A clear case for return on investment can help your program justify continued funding and long-term expansion.

In recent news, proposed budget reductions in Tacoma, Washington threaten continuation for two of its recently adopted alternative response programs. The city's proposed 2027–2028 budget would phase out the Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement (HOPE) Team and the Community Service Officers (CSO) program, both initiatives designed to provide a specialized response to behavioral-health crises as well as low-risk public-safety incidents. Both programs have demonstrated substantial service activity. For example, since 2024, CSOs have reported responding to nearly 5,000 calls for service and completed more than 2,500 reports. And, the HOPE behavioral-health co-response team has responded to more than 2,600 calls since its launch in 2023. Despite reporting substantial service activity, city officials proposed cutting their funding. According to the City of Tacoma's official budget documentation, the programs initially relied on temporary funding, including federal pandemic-relief resources, which no longer exist. Officials also identified staffing challenges, operational constraints, and concerns about operating existing services at scale.

Tacoma is not alone, it is only the latest example of a broader funding sustainability challenge affecting alternative response programs nationwide. We recently reviewed coverage and public records to identify cases like those in Tacoma, spanning from 2025 to present. Our search identified twelve programs across eleven jurisdictions that had reported either funding gaps, expiring temporary support, proposed budget reductions, staffing losses, service reductions, or program termination. For example, in Hartford, Connecticut the Hartford Emergency Assistance Response Team (HEARTeam) recently announced significant budget threats to operation. The program began in 2022 responding to selected 911 calls involving behavioral-health crises using licensed clinicians and peer responders. By January 2026, the HEARTeam had been dispatched to more than 2,000 calls; however, the city proposed reducing its operating hours and services as federal COVID-era funding expired. Though Connecticut lawmakers did ultimately appropriate approximately $870,000 in temporary funding to help sustain the initiative, services like weekend coverage, holiday hours and youth-response were reduced. Source: Connecticut Public — Funding Secured for Hartford's Alternative 911 Response Initiative. In Santa Barbara County, California, four operating sheriff's co-response teams handled 2,070 calls in 2025, with a reported 2.6% resulting in arrests. Despite this documented activity, the program faced funding uncertainty in 2025 as city officials weighed the costs of maintaining team coverage amidst budget cuts. Without future certainty, at least one of four operating teams covering the County may be lost. Source: Santa Barbara Independent — Co-Response Teams Face Funding Troubles

In Mesa County, Colorado, consequences were more immediate. County officials pointed to the loss of approximately $1.3 million in state behavioral-health grant funding, which contributed to decision to close the county's behavioral-health department. Affected services included the county co-responder program. Still, funding dispute remains contested. Source: The Colorado Sun — Mesa County Behavioral Health Funding Dispute. And, in Eugene, Oregon, one of the nation's most recognized crisis-response models met sustainability challenges that threatened its established services. In April 2025, the CAHOOTS program ended its longstanding service partnership with Eugene after more than three decades amid financial and operational difficulties. Importantly, CAHOOTS continued operating in neighboring Springfield, where the city maintained a separate service contract. The Eugene closure, however, illustrated the vulnerability of a local funding and service arrangements Source: Lookout Eugene-Springfield — After CAHOOTS Ends in Eugene, Supporters Seek a Path Forward. These examples extend beyond a handful of communities. Based on our research similar funding or operational sustainability concerns were reported upon in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Bellingham/Whatcom County, Washington; Denver, Colorado; Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; and Antioch, California.

Every Case Needs to Demonstrate Value 

Funding uncertainty does not necessarily equate to declining public sentiment or diminished need for alternative response programs. What these stories can demonstrate, however, is lack of awareness among citizen and stakeholders. It can also be a signal of weak program ownership and internal support. To address these challenges we see a growing urgency to 1) Share the mission of your community response program locally. Gain momentum for programs through public information building and outreach campaigns. You may think everyone knows about the program and can see its impact, but that may not be the case. Start by regularly demonstrating what community response programs offer the community; 2) Move beyond output metrics like call volume and contact rate and toward concrete impact metrics connected to cost savings, like reduced incarceration and recidivism. Communities and funders increasingly need to see evidence connected to return on investment. In increasingly uncertain funding environments, we need to make a more compelling case for sustained investment. 

National cost estimates provide useful benchmarks for measures related to officer wait time, repeat emergency department visits, emergency hospitalization, short-term incarceration, and recidivism. Combined with local cost data and documented case outcomes, these benchmarks can support credible estimates of savings generated through deflection and community response.

In our recent article on return on investment for deflection programs, we examined the potential cost differences associated with emergency department utilization, outpatient stabilization, and inpatient psychiatric care. Findings incated,“For cases diverted from longer-term hospitalization or inpatient psychiatric admission, estimated cost reductions can reach at least $8,300 per case.” Our results were based on the national cost estimates. These estimates offer a good starting point. However, real value emerges when programs can apply locally relevant costs, actual service utilization, and documented outcomes to calculate financial impact within their own city, county, or region. Equally important, programs need sustainable ways to communicate that value to the public.

ARETGroup Horizon ROI Calculator for Community Response 

Few tools contribute as directly to program sustainability as return on investment (ROI) calculators. ROI tools support informed decision-making by translating program costs, outcomes, and measurable benefits into evidence of economic value, helping program leaders demonstrate fiscal accountability. ARETGroup has designed an online ROI calculator that program leaders and public officials can take advantage of when considering where and how to adjust their spending. Our ROI calculator is grounded in established principles of cost-effectiveness analysis, incorporating weighted estimates derived from national data sources to quantify program costs, economic benefits, and potential returns on investment.

As illustrated in the example, entering a few local cost estimates and actual service utilization data allows you to calculate your program’s estimated return on investment (ROI), providing valuable insights to support funding decisions and long-term sustainability.

What’s missing is an integrated data infrastructure. The tools needed to collect, manage, share, and publish this information are often scattered across a complex technology stack rather than seamlessly integrated into a single, compliant data lifecycle management system. ARETGroup Horizon is data lifecycle software that connects field-based encounters to concrete financial impact assessments available real-time. Our approach builds on tested, locally configured ROI calculations that help programs translate service activity into meaningful measures of program performance and potential cost savings. When communities and decision-makers can see credible local numbers in real time, the case for continued investment becomes more clear and actionable.

To explore ARETGroup's Return on Investment Calculator or request customized ROI calculations for your jurisdiction, contact us at [email protected] to learn more about our complete data lifecycle solutions.