New CARES Team will respond to behavioral health calls

May 8, 2025 - The Hampton Division of Fire and Rescue is partnering with the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board and Sentara Health to launch the Community Assistance Response (CARES) Team, a specialized unit designed to respond to calls involving non-violent individuals experiencing behavioral or mental health crises.

The pilot program will pair a behavioral health crisis clinician from the community services board with a fire division emergency medical responder who can respond to 911 mental health crisis calls. The goal is to help minimize police response and involvement in behavioral health emergencies, with a mission of reducing the risk to these individuals by de-escalating immediate stresses and connecting them with appropriate care and services.

The CARES Team will be staffed from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays, and the hours may expand based on operational data and community needs.

The program will follow the procedures that originated in 2020 when Gov Ralph Northem signed legislation creating the Marcus Alert, which pertains to emergency calls related to mental health, substance abuse or developmental disabilities.