Knoxville City Council approves competing proposals for alternative crisis response teams

Liz Kellar, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read

The Knoxville City Council debated the merits of two competing resolutions addressing gaps in services for mental health and addiction issues and, after two hours of debate, passed both unanimously.

"It's unfortunate it's come down to anger and blame," said council member Lauren Rider.

Rider ended up having to talk over shouts from audience members who were upset over the move by Vice Mayor Andrew Roberto to propose his own resolution after the council last month derailed approval of Amelia Parker's initial proposal.

In the end, all council members supported the concept that the city will now explore in the coming months.

Alternative response teams are trained mental health and addiction experts who arrive when someone is in crisis and could have a better interaction when police aren't involved. Both resolutions asked the city to start a team but Roberto's also advocated for long-term psychiatric hospital units that would serve low-income and uninsured people.

Parker, who withdrew her original resolution, had crafted a proposal that incorporated much of the same language as the one from Roberto.

The next step is for the city to co-host a workshop with the Knox County Commission, and hold a public hearing in January.

Supporter for Knoxville HEART attend the Knoxville City Council meeting in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 where council member Amelia Parker introduced a resolution to create an Alternative Response Team task force to look at a pilot program for crisis response on emergency calls without police to assist those experiencing mental health or addiction emergencies.

Members of Healing EastTN Alternative Response Team, who packed the audience, accused Roberto of co-opting their work and the work of Parker and removing community input components.

"I'm just not going to wait and watch more time go by," Roberto responded, telling council members the Knox County Commission was ready to host a joint workshop as soon as the beginning of August. "I want this to work. I think a lot of you want this to work, that’s what this about. It's not about names on piece of paper. ... I want to acknowledge the work HEART has done."

After an amendment by council member Seema Singh softened some of the language in Roberto's resolution, both versions were passed by the council.

"We're excited that both the city and the community are really ready to support alternative response teams," HEART member Moira Connelly said after the meeting.

Connelly highlighted the $50,000 in matching funds that has been committed by Mayor Indya Kincannon, adding, "We're reaching out to potential nonprofit partners and expect to be able to obtain the matching funding needed."

Liz Kellar is a public safety reporter. Email lkellar@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville City Council moves ahead with alternative response teams