Need help now?
If you or someone you know is experiencing an emergency, please call 911. If you think it would be beneficial to have a mental health professional assess and connect the person with services, tell the dispatcher that you’d like to request the Mental Health Response Team (MHRT).
If a team member is not available, a patrol officer will respond to assist. All Fort Collins officers receive training related to mental health response. If you'd like follow up from the MHRT, just let the responding officer know and a member of the team will contact you at a later time.
Use this flow chart to answer a few basic questions and determine the best local resource for your situation.
Mental Health Response Team#
Program Vision: We believe healthy communities are safe communities, that mental illness is not a crime, and that jails/hospitals should not be seen as the best ways to access appropriate care leading to long-term wellness.
Program Mission: To provide professional, compassionate, and comprehensive services through police/mental health collaboration through on-scene assessment and follow up aligned with the agency's de-escalation philosophy.
Program Goals: Increase on-scene safety for all involved parties. Route citizens to the most appropriate level of care. Avoid unnecessary referrals to hospital emergency rooms. Reduce incarceration related to crimes secondary to mental illness. Provide follow up care coordination to ensure citizens are able to access appropriate care. Create a culture of police-mental health collaboration with a focus on community need and collaboration.
Community Resources#
911 Checklist
Please call 9-1-1 if you or someone you know is in danger of self-harm or hurting others. This checklist will help you prepare and know what to expect when you call for help in a mental health crisis situation.
Larimer Resource Guide
If you or a loved one is having a mental health crisis, resources are available here in Larimer County. Click to view a list of local services.
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) created this guide to help people experiencing a mental health emergency.
Dementia Resources
Access local resources for those living with dementia, as well as support information for their caregivers and loved ones.
Medication Assisted Treatment
The Colorado Opioid Synergy for Larimer and Weld (CO-SLAW) counties is a network of clinics that offer medication assisted treatment and counseling services.
Co-Response Program Overview#
FCPS assists an increasing number of community members with behavioral health conditions, as well as their families who are concerned about them, on a daily basis. The Mental Health Co-Responder Program was created with the goals of 1) helping families and individuals in crisis access appropriate community services, and 2) increasing the safety of those individuals and officers who encounter them.
This program is an integral part of the agency's overall philosophy of de-escalation, or in other words, aligned with the philosophy of connecting with and helping community members without the use of force as often as possible.
Program Phase 1
Fort Collins Police Services began working to develop a co-responder program in 2015, and the program officially launched in July of 2018. A licensed professional counselor was initially hired to serve as a full-time co-responder clinician. This position was jointly funded through FCPS, UCHealth, and SummitStone Health Partners.
Program Phase 2
In 2019, a UCHealth community paramedic joined the program working alongside the full-time co-responder. The team fully transitioned to being funded through UCHealth to help facilitate the regional expansion of law enforcement co-response partnerships.
Program Phase 3
In 2020, FCPS approved the formation of a full-time Mental Health Response Team. In January 2021, two officers began working with the clinician and community paramedic to enhance mental health services to our community members and expand partnerships with local service providers.
Program Phase 4
In 2022, the unit expanded to four officer-clinician teams and added a sergeant to support MHRT efforts, this is where the team remains today.
* Internship opportunities are not available at this time.
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Mental health has long been a topic of discussion, but it only recently became a focal topic of broader social interest. There are often questions about resources and why we do what we do. Below is some background on how we got to our present model.
1960s
Legislation was passed to deinstitutionalize psychiatric facilities, or in other words, the government wanted to find a way to better meet the needs of individuals with a mental health condition that allowed them to remain in the community. This piece of legislation, coupled with the Community Mental Health Construction Act of 1963, created significant changes in where and how people accessed mental health services, as well as what services were available. In effect, it closed inpatient facilities and encouraged states to open community mental health centers (CMHC) – treatment agencies where people with a mental health condition could go for medication and treatment while living in the community as opposed to residing in an inpatient facility. Additional court cases (see Lake v. Cameron, DC Court of Appeals, 1966) supported the idea of community mental health and treatment in what we refer to in the clinical field as the “least restrictive treatment setting” possible.1970-1980
In the 70s and 80s we saw court cases and legislation such as the 1975 US Supreme Court ruling in O’Connor v. Donaldson that changed the way we look at mental health holds and involuntary treatment. In this case, the courts ruled that a person must be a danger to self or others in order to be “constitutionally confined,” or otherwise known as being placed on a mental health hold and further assessed until stabilized. Years later, we see the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act pass that terminated federal government funding for mental health hospitals and required a medical illness for admittance to facilities. This required states to return to funding non-nursing homes for the long-term care of people in the community with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI), which resulted in the segregation of this group into large, underfunded facilities. These facilities were often for-profit and privately owned, creating incentive for reduced costs to increase profits.1990s
Finally, the U.S. Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) ruled that mental illness is a disability and covered under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). This required all government agencies to move people with mental illness into community-based treatment settings again to decrease/avoid institutionalization.Impacts
With these legislative changes and landmark court cases, the actual practice of mental health care has experienced myriad expected and unexpected consequences. A reliance on insurance to cover treatment has increased, individuals with SPMI and more often living in the community and accessing resources at local healthcare centers which has proven excellent for social connection and health for most, but there is still a subset of this group that needs more support. These individuals are in contact with public safety partners, such as police, fire, or emergency medical services. When in contact, they are at different points of understanding the condition they are diagnosed with and motivation to address it in a way that is aligned with their best interests.To this end, public safety personnel, especially officers, are interacting with these individuals more often and thus one of the unintended consequences is an over reliance on public safety to provide the same level and quality of mental health assessments, treatment, and triage that a highly trained mental health professional would provide. We are beginning to see the other side of the system slowly catch up to the circumstances created by years of well-intentioned change that led to disproportionate rates of homelessness, incarceration, and compounded medical and mental health care problems for individuals in this group.
Present Day
In 2013, Senate bill 17-207 was passed. It was intended to end the use of the criminal justice system as a “holding space” for individuals with a mental illness. The legislation declared a behavioral health crisis to be a healthcare issue, not a police or criminal issue, and led to the creation of a “coordinated behavioral health crisis response system.” Governor Hickenlooper followed this up in 2016 with the Colorado Community Paramedic Bill, which allows community paramedics to practice emergency medical procedures during calls for service.Enter co-response and mobile integrated healthcare. Some areas had already recognized a need for these programs back in the 1980s/1990s and started putting these programs in place. Los Angeles Police Department and the CAHOOTS program in Eugene, Oregon are two examples of this. Today, there are national training sites for co-response (a mental health provider and officer working together) and mobile integrated healthcare (MIH) programs (a multidisciplinary team that responds to both in-progress calls for service and provides intensive follow up).
Behind the Scenes#
Episode 1: Meet MHRT
Go behind the scenes with members of the Mental Health Response Team. In this podcast-style discussion, an officer and clinician share their day-to-day work, the challenges they face, and what motivates them to serve. [31:35]
Dallas' Story
Every day is an opportunity to travel a new path, and every person we encounter deserves to be treated with dignity at all stages of their journey. Listen to Dallas share his inspiring story of working through trauma and decades of addiction to find recovery with the support of local people who believed in him. [24:30]
[tw: full episode includes candid discussions about trauma, substance use, and self-harm]
Interagency Treatment Group#
The Interagency Treatment Group is a monthly forum of 25 community agencies; medical, mental health, social service, criminal justice and law enforcement, designed to assist Fort Collins Police Services in its efforts to intervene safely and effectively with individuals who exhibit mental illness and addictive behaviors.
Law enforcement, fire, mental health, medical, justice system, and community social service agencies interact with many of the same individuals with mental illness or dual diagnosis issues on a regular basis. The best use of limited community resources requires effective coordination of services. The Mental Health Co-Responder attends this meeting to facilitate coordination of intervention efforts.
The program’s mission is to bring together agencies that share clients with law enforcement in order to effectively coordinate services between agencies, provide the most effective interventions, reduce recidivism, enhance the safety of all service providers, and provide education and emotional support for agency representatives.
Mental Health Response Team Staff#
Laura Lunsford | Lieutenant
Lieutenant Laura Lunsford has proudly served with Fort Collins Police Services since 2001, bringing over two decades of dedication to public service. Throughout her career, she has worked in a wide range of assignments, including the Training Unit, where she played a role in hiring and preparing new officers for the demands of modern policing. She also served with the Neighborhood Engagement Team, supervised the School Resource Officer (SRO) team, and most recently was assigned as the Community Engagement Lieutenant, which oversees the Mental Health Response Team (MHRT).
Before beginning her law enforcement career, Laura proudly served in the United States Air Force . Her passion for community-focused policing and public service continues to drive her work, and she remains deeply committed to building trust, safety, and well-being throughout the Fort Collins community.
Annie Hill | Sergeant
mhrt@fcgov.com
Annie Hill is the current supervisor of the Mental Health Response Team and has been employed at FCPS since 2009. She holds a Bachelors Degree from the University of Minnesota in Criminology and an Associates Degree in Law Enforcement from Fon du Lac Tribal College. She has served in various capacities at FCPS including as a Neighborhood Engagement Team Officer, a Mental Health Response Team Officer and a Crimes Against Persons Detective. Additionally she is a team leader for the Crisis Negotiations Team and a Director for the Northern Colorado Crisis Intervention Team. Sgt. Hill has a passion for mental health and has experience counseling at risk youth and court ordered domestic violence clients. She is also a Certified Addictions Technician through the State of Colorado.
Sierra Black, LCSW
UCHealth Behavioral Health Clinical Co-Responder | noco.coresponse@uchealth.org
Sierra joined the Mental Health Response Team in June of 2022. She received both her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Social Work from Colorado State University and is currently a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Sierra has spent her career serving the community of Northern Colorado in various roles including victim advocacy, case management, inpatient care, mobile crisis response, and co-response.
Keyan Bondhus | Officer
Officer Bondhus has been with Fort Collins Police Services since 2022, working primarily in the patrol division before being selected to join the Mental Health Response Team. Officer Bondhus is also a defensive tactics instructor for the agency and is certified in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). Officer Bondhus received his degree from Colorado State University in psychology and criminal justice and has spent the majority of his career working in corrections. Officer Bondhus is passionate about helping those struggling with mental health in the local community and enjoys the challenge of making Fort Collins a better place.
Robert Castillo | Officer
Robert joined the Mental Health Response Team in August of 2025. He has been a police officer in the State of Colorado since 2020, and spent time working in the Behavioral Health unit in Adams County jail. Additionally, Robert is a Crisis Intervention teams coach and assists in training other law enforcement officers in how to work with people in crisis. Robert has a passion for building relationships with the community, and strives to make a positive impact with his work on every call.
Lindsay De Luna | LCSW, LAC
UCHealth Behavioral Health Clinical Co-Responder | noco.coresponse@uchealth.org
Lindsay joined the Co-Response program with UCHealth and Fort Collins Police Services in January 2022 and was promoted to clinical supervisor in 2023. Lindsay holds a bachelor’s degree from Idaho State University and a Master of Social Work from University of Denver. She is credentialed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Licensed Addictions Counselor (LAC). Prior to her role in co-response she has worked in several different hospitals and spent four years working in an inpatient behavioral health facility. Her specialties include medical social work, crisis intervention, and substance use.
Katherine Frazier | LCSW, LAC
UCHealth Behavioral Health Clinical Co-Responder | noco.coresponse@uchealth.org
Katherine (Katie) joined the Mental Health Response Team in October 2024. She received a Bachelor's of Social Work from Colorado State University and a Masters in Social Work at Western New Mexico University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Addiction Counselor. Over the last seven years, Katie has served as a clinician and clinical supervisor in the Larimer County jail, worked completing integrated assessments in an outpatient setting, and worked as a school social worker. Katie has experience working with Competency Court, DUI treatment, substance use and mental health group and individual treatment, and special education with students K-12. Katie's specialties include co-occurring disorders, the criminal justice population, and assessments.
Cory Kiper | Officer
Officer Cory Kiper has been a police officer since 2013. He began his police career with the Larimer County Sheriff’s office in 2013 and transitioned to Fort Collins Police Services in 2020. Before embarking on his career in policing, Cory proudly served in the United States Army, undertaking deployments to multiple locations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Cory holds a bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Law Enforcement Administration. Cory is a Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) coach. For over 12 years, Cory has been an active volunteer with various veteran organizations, passionately addressing critical issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and veteran suicide. Cory is committed to serving the citizens of Fort Collins through a focus on community need and collaboration.
Andrea Linafelter | LCSW
UCHealth Behavioral Health Manager | noco.coresponse@uchealth.org
Andrea Linafelter joined the team as the Behavioral Health Manager in February 2023 overseeing the clinicians with the Mental Health Response Team. She received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Social Work from Colorado State University along with her Master’s Certification in Healthcare Management from Cornell University. Andrea has over 10 years of experience in crisis assessment including community mental health, hospital-based crisis services, and inpatient stabilization.
Brenna Rush | LCSW, LAC
UCHealth Behavioral Health Clinical Co-Responder | noco.coresponse@uchealth.org
Brenna Rush joined the Mental Health Response Team in January 2024. She received a Bachelor's of Psychology and a Masters in Social Work at Colorado State University. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Addiction Counselor. Brenna has served the Fort Collins community for over 10 years with experience working in corrections, substance abuse treatment, outpatient therapy, and housing. Her specialties include severe mental illness, substance abuse, and crisis intervention.
Officer Joe Schilz
MHRT Officer | mhrt@fcgov.com
Officer Joe Schilz has been with Fort Collins Police since 2019 and is a member of the department’s Peer Support Team. Joe is a certified CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Coach and assists with training officers attending a CIT course. Joe is passionate about building relationships with community members and helping them in their time of need. Prior to becoming a police officer, Joe served in the U.S. Army as an Infantryman, and deployed to Baghdad and Baqubah, Iraq. Joe has earned an associate’s degree in Criminal Justice.
