Albemarle wins state award for Human Services Alternative Response Team 

For just over a year, Albemarle County has been running a public safety response program called the Human Services Alternative Response Team which is intended for public service calls where someone is in a behavioral health emergency. 

“This program has vastly exceeded our expectations both in terms of the number of folks who have been served but also the impact the program has had on other parts of the continuum of care for folks experiencing behavioral health concerns,” said Kaki Dimock, Albemarle’s Director of Human Services. 

The HART program began on August 1, 2023 and around 550 individuals have been assisted with around nine in ten experiencing a behavioral crisis and the rest with a substance abuse issue. Most of the calls have follow-ups with the individual. 

“This team has done extraordinary work with folks in the community, likely impacting long-term system outcomes but certainly impacting well-being pretty dramatically,” Dimock said. 

Earlier this month, the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo) presented Albemarle with an achievement award for the service. There were 145 entries for 2024 and Bennett said there were 45 winners from 32 counties. Albemarle has won eight other awards since the program began in the early 2000’s.

VACo has existed since 1934 and serves as an advocate for the needs of local government in the Commonwealth. 

Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson said the HART team is part of how the locality seeks to address issues in the community. 

“We continue to deal with complex issues in the field every day and this Board is good about challenging us in an appropriate way to address issues to achieve different outcomes,” Richardson said. 

The Virginia Albemarle contributed additional funding to the program to add three more staff members in the current fiscal year. 

(Photo caption: Jeremy Bennett, director of intergovernmental affairs for the Virginia Association of Counties, presents the award to Kaki Dimock, Albemarle’s Director of Human Services (Credit: Albemarle County)

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