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Association of Co-Response Clinicians 

Built by Clinicians. Guided by Ethics. Focused on Trust. 

  • Strengthening the Co-Response Clinician

  • Enhancing the Co-Response Service Model

  • Professional Recognition & Legislative Advocacy

  • Protecting Clinical Ethics

  • Prioritize Public Trust & Transperency

  • Strengthening Interdisciplinary Partnerships​​​

    • The ACRC should be seen as complimentary to other Co-Response organization, with a universal goal in  mind,  the Co-Response  Service Model.  

  • Advancing Community-Centered Crisis Care

  • The Invisible Responder Campaign- a social media broadcast campaign. 

    • ACRC continues to spread the word about the Invisible Responder and the vital role they fill, even though it is not recognized. ​

    • Co-Response is suicide prevention. 

    • Co-Response is substance use intervention. 

    • Co-Response decreases crime. 

  • Working Towards a Definition of Co-Response Clinician Within Statute.​

    • Read the working definition below. ​

  • Protect Interdisciplinary Partnerships

    • ACRC is working to collect the voices of the clinicians in Colorado- we want to include the collective voice when speaking with legislators. Please remember at ACRC- WE SPEAK UP HERE!- please join the conversation. ​​

  • ACRC is working on developing relationships with fellow Co-Response Programs.

Goals

Happenings

&

Defining the Co-Response Clinician in Colorado

ACRC has requested that our Colorado legislators define the Co-Response Clinician in statute- but why is this important?  

In Colorado, there is no definition of a Co-Response Clinician. These roles are currently filled by various mental health professionals, most often master's-level graduates with additional professional licensure. The most common licenses include LCSW/LSW, LPC/LPCC, LAC, LMFT, etc.


Programs have done a tremendous job building upon mental health professionals’ education, training, and previous work experiences to develop Co-Response Clinicians who can meet their program's needs. However, because there is no definition of a Co-Response Clinician, there is nothing that specifically determines what these mental health professionals can and cannot do within the Co-Response Service Model. This is a problem.


If there is nothing specifically stating what a Co-Response Clinician can do, there is also nothing in place stating what they cannot do. This allows individual agencies to determine what their Co-Response Clinicians can and cannot do. This is a problem.


There is a lack of understanding of mental health professionals’ ethical and professional standards and how these standards may conflict with certain agency policies or requests. This creates a gap in how co-responders can effectively and cohesively work together.


This is where the definition comes into play. Establishing a definition creates a more universal understanding of what a Co-Response Clinician is while clarifying what these professionals can and cannot do.


Additionally, because there is no definition of a Co-Response Clinician in statute, there are also no protections in place specifically for this professional role.

 

Currently, the following protections are in place for first responders:

  • 7 – Law Enforcement

  • 4 – Firefighters

  • 4 – EMS/Rescue Personnel

  • 5 – Overlapping First Responder Protections

  • The Co-Response Clinician = ZERO.

The Colorado
Co-Response Practice Act

Proposed Legislative Framework for the Protection of Public Trust, Clinical Integrity, and Effective Crisis Response

Colorado Co-Response Practice Act

Co-response clinicians provide behavioral health expertise within complex crisis-response environments, often working alongside law enforcement, fire and rescue, EMS, mobile crisis, emergency communications, and other response professionals. Despite the continued growth of co-response across Colorado, there is no consistent statewide framework specifically addressing the professional practice of co-response clinicians.

Association of Co-Response Clinicians (ACRC) is developing the Colorado Co-Response Practice Act to establish clearer professional standards for clinicians working within co-response programs.

The proposed framework addresses clinical autonomy, confidentiality, documentation and information sharing, interdisciplinary roles, professional and investigative boundaries, clinical supervision, workforce safety, and ethical practice.

ACRC defines a co-response clinician as a graduate-level, state-regulated behavioral health professional who responds jointly or in coordination with public-safety, emergency-response, or crisis-response personnel to an individual experiencing an actual or suspected behavioral health crisis.

Co-response requires close interdisciplinary collaboration while maintaining clear professional boundaries. Clinicians remain responsible for their independent clinical judgment, scope of practice, ethical obligations, and confidentiality requirements regardless of which agency employs them or participates in the response.

ACRC is engaging clinicians, behavioral health organizations, partnering agencies, community stakeholders, and policymakers to better understand current practices across Colorado and identify where statewide guidance may be beneficial.

The goal is to establish a professional framework that provides greater consistency and clarity while allowing communities to maintain co-response models that reflect their local needs.

Purpose

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ACRC Position

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Co-response is a partnership between disciplines, not the absorption of one profession into another.

Definition of a Co-Response Clinician

The co-response clinician exercises independent clinical judgment and provides behavioral health crisis assessment, de-escalation, stabilization, safety planning, care coordination, referral, and follow-up services.

​

The clinician works with first responders to identify the safest, least restrictive, and most clinically appropriate response while reducing unnecessary arrest, incarceration, emergency department use, involuntary treatment, repeated emergency-system involvement, and other avoidable adverse outcomes.

A co-response clinician remains a behavioral health professional regardless of the agency with which the clinician responds, the organization that employs the clinician, the location of the encounter, or the circumstances that initiated the response.

The strength of co-response depends upon clinicians and response partners being able to collaborate closely while maintaining clearly defined professional responsibilities.

ACRC therefore supports the development of a statewide framework that recognizes co-response clinicians as a distinct and essential component of Colorado’s behavioral health crisis-response system while preserving the clinical independence, ethical responsibilities, confidentiality obligations, and professional standards that define behavioral health practice.

Co-response clinicians may work jointly or in coordination with personnel from:

  • Law enforcement officers;

  • Firefighters;

  • Paramedics;

  • Emergency medical technicians;

  • Emergency medical services personnel;

  • Emergency communications or dispatch personnel;

  • Mobile crisis personnel;

  • Emergency management personnel; and

  • Other public-safety or emergency-response professionals.

The designation of co-response clinician does not, by itself, designate or define the clinician as a first responder.

Proposed Definition of a Co-Response Clinician

A co-response clinician is a graduate-level, state-regulated behavioral health professional who responds jointly or in coordination with public-safety, emergency-response, or crisis-response personnel to an individual experiencing an actual or suspected behavioral health crisis.

The co-response clinician serves as the behavioral health professional within an interdisciplinary response and exercises independent clinical judgment consistent with the clinician’s professional scope of practice, regulatory requirements, ethical obligations, and applicable state and federal law.

Employer policies do not supercede a licensed clinician's legal and ethical obligations. Mental health professionals remain personally responsible for complying with their professional codes of ethics, licensing board requirements, HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, and all other applicable privacy and confidentiality laws. While organizations may establish internal policies, the individual clinician remains accountable for protecting client rights, maintaining confidentiality, and practicing in accordance with professional standards.

The Association of Co-Response Clinicians (ACRC) supports the establishment of a clear, consistent statewide definition of the co-response clinician and uniform professional standards governing the role of behavioral health clinicians working within co-response programs in Colorado.

Co-response clinicians occupy a distinct professional role within interdisciplinary crisis response. Although clinicians work jointly or in coordination with law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, emergency communications, mobile crisis, emergency management, and other public-safety or emergency-response professionals, their participation in these systems does not alter their identity, responsibilities, or obligations as behavioral health professionals.

A clear statewide definition is necessary to protect clinical autonomy and client confidentiality, establish appropriate interdisciplinary boundaries, promote ethical and consistent practice, preserve public trust, and support effective behavioral health crisis response across Colorado.

ACRC Proposed Definition and Professional Standards for Co-Response Clinicians

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