PACT
What is the PACT program?
PACT stands for Pitkin Area Co-Responder Teams, a collaborative community program between law enforcement and mental health professionals. The co-responder team jointly responds to calls where substance abuse and/or mental health challenges may exist in the community and other at-risk populations.
Who makes up the PACT team?
- A co-responder, who is a mental health counselor.
- Local police officers and deputies from Aspen Police Department, Snowmass Village Police Department, and Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.
- A case manager and a peer support specialist.
- Our community mental health partner, Mind Springs Health.
How does the PACT program work?
On scene, the mental health co-responder works with officers and deputies to coordinate access to resources and provide necessary support.
For clients who meet certain criteria, a full-time case manager follows up after the co-response to support individuals and discuss next steps.
Some clients also meet with a full-time peer support specialist who utilizes lived experiences that help model moving through mental health challenges.
What are PACT’s goals?
- To de-criminalize mental illness by reducing incarcerations of low-level offenders with mental illness.
- To de-stigmatize mental illness, making it easier for people to seek and receive treatment and encouraging positive conversations around mental wellness.
- To decrease emergency room visits for mental health care.
- To reduce repeat police calls for individuals in need of community-based services and mental health support.
PACT in the Media
Aspen Times - Aspen keeps eyes on mental health collaboration, conversation in 2022
Aspen Times - Community policing with compassion in the Roaring Fork Valley
Aspen Daily News - Jenny Lyons Mental Health Program Administrator Interview
Pilot program aims to get assistance for low-level offenders
Photos of the PACT Team
PACT at the 2021 Co-R Conference
From left to right: Jenny Lyons, Megan Verros, and Officer Jerez and Rockwell
At the PACT Launch Party June 28, 2019
From left to right: Jose Saez, Karen Koenneman, Suzuho Shimasaki, Katie Hundertmark, Jordana Sabella, Lara Xaiz, & Lance Nabers
PACT & Aspen Strong joined together to raise mental health awareness and host approximately 60 people at last winter’s Uphill Social, a hike/ski up to the Cliffhouse at Buttermilk!
From left to right: Andrew Shewmaker, Alex Durant, Jeff Hembury, Lindsay Maisch, Jess Beaulieu, Lori Maloy, Nan Sundeen, and Schuyler Clay.
Contact: Jenny Lyons, Mental Health Program Administrator: jenny.lyons@pitkincounty.com or 970.309.2677