Where She is Needed Most: Lowell Police Department Co-Response Clinician Is On-Duty and Ready to Help

LOWELL — Superintendent Greg Hudon would like to introduce the Lowell Police Department’s co-response mental health clinician to the community and to share the ongoing success of the co-response program.

The co-response program, which has already saved hundreds of thousands of dollars by preempting unnecessary hospital emergency department visits and arrests, is also looking to hire a second co-response clinician to work in Lowell. 

Skyla Insogna, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, has been working with Lowell Police as a co-response mental health clinician since early June.

Co-response mental health clinicians respond alongside police to mental health calls and mental health crises, working to provide holistic, professional assistance to those in need of services in the time and place where they are needed most.

Lowell Police partners on the co-response program with Advocates, of Framingham, which works with individuals, families and community partners to develop creative solutions for those who face developmental, mental health and other life challenges.

The Lowell deployment is part of a broader national trend. Co-response mental health clinicians are reducing involuntary psychiatric commitments and lowering arrest rates in communities across the country.

Co-response clinicians like Insogna work to divert those experiencing behavioral health issues from unnecessary hospital visits, instead providing services on scene and connecting those in need to additional follow-up services. Such diversions free up resources in hospitals and help people avoid involvement in the criminal justice system. 

The Lowell Police Department has had a co-response clinician program in place since July 2021, thanks to grant funding from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. 

Since its launch in 2021, Advocates’ Lowell Co-Response Jail Diversion Program has conducted over 1,400 direct interventions alongside police.  To date, the Lowell program has achieved 302 emergency department diversions and 148 arrest diversions, reinforcing its impact on both public health and public safety. 

So far this year, the team facilitated 170 interventions, including 60 emergency department diversions, saving an estimated $131,280, and 17 arrest diversions, saving approximately $121,873. The cost savings estimates are based on estimated costs per arrest or hospitalization in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Jail and Arrest Diversion Grant Program FY 2023 Annual Report.

Before taking on this role, Insogna spent the previous five years providing emergency crisis management and private outpatient therapy, and was attracted to a position working even closer to the front lines of mental health with Lowell Police and Advocates.

An always-on-the-go type of person, Insogna said she was attracted to the hands-on work required for crisis response, and that she looks forward to every day being different.

Advocates has been providing co-response since 2003, and on average 75% of individuals presenting with criminal behavior are diverted from arrest and into appropriate treatment. The organization has embedded 16 clinicians in 23 police departments throughout Middlesex and Worcester counties.

“I think it’s important for individuals to recognize that, yes, we come along with police officers, but we are civilians. We’re in normal clothes and we’re here to have human-to-human conversations,” Insogna said. “There is help out there in ways that the Lowell Police Department and I can offer to support individuals to feel guided in the right direction of resources.”

“Our co-response program is hugely important, as it provides those facing behavioral health issues with a lifeline that they can access without visiting a hospital emergency department or facing involuntary commitment. The program is also an invaluable tool to all of our officers,” said Superintendent Hudon. “In addition to this program, we’re also providing all of our officers Rewire 4 trauma-informed mental health training, and getting 20 percent of our officers more intensive Crisis Intervention Team training. Responding professionally and compassionately to those facing behavioral health challenges and crises is one of the most important jobs of the Lowell Police Department.”

“We are so pleased with the results of our partnership with the Lowell Police Department, which has resulted in people with mental health conditions in the community getting the care they need in the right setting,” said Advocates President & CEO Diane Gould. “Mental health co-response is a highly effective approach that reduces unnecessary hospital admissions, prevents involuntary commitments, and strengthens our collaboration with law enforcement. It’s a model that creates safer communities, and we’re proud to be part of this important effort.”

About Advocates, Inc.

Advocates is a nonprofit organization supporting more than 40,000 people across Massachusetts and Rhode Island with developmental, mental health, and other life challenges. Through innovative programs – including community justice initiatives that address the behavioral health needs of individuals involved in the criminal justice system – Advocates helps people live healthy, productive lives in their communities. Learn more at Advocates.org.