Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement (HOPE)

In 2023, the City of Tacoma Fire Department established a team intended to respond to behavioral health crisis and effectively engage with people impacted by mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders.

HOPE stands for Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement. Our program will support community members during behavioral health crisis scenarios, and the first responders, courts, jails, community providers, and hospitals supporting those same community members. The HOPE program is part of the City of Tacoma's broader alternative response initiative. 

Mission

To be Tacoma's response to behavioral health crisis.

Vision

Provide holistic, person-centered, recovery-oriented care to the community.

Values

Instill HOPE, to first responders, the person experiencing a behavioral health crisis, their support system, and provide a collaborative and understanding approach to resources in the community.

The launch date for this program is September 2023.

Calling 911 is currently the only method to contact and request HOPE support services related to a behavioral health crisis. HOPE will utilize various modalities when supporting a person experiencing behavioral health crisis. One will be motivational interviewing, as well as a solution focused approach to determine what the person’s goal or desired outcome is and to determine how much buy-in the person has in relation to their goal/desired outcome. Motivational interviewing and a solution focused approach are frequently utilized during community-based outreach and behavioral health crisis response. As this program will also staff medical personnel, people receiving services can also engage in short term medication management, Medication Assisted Treatment aka MAT services, and basic medical and wound care. The HOPE program will provide crisis intervention, de-escalation, risk assessment, safety planning, mental health evaluation, connection to and coordination of ongoing stabilization services and resources, and case management.