ALBANY – The Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting (ACCORD) program, designed to improve outcomes for nonviolent emergency calls, will be expanding in 2022 due to a significant financial commitment from New York State.

On Thursday, Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce, Legislator Matthew Peter, County Executive Daniel P. McCoy, Sheriff Craig Apple and Department of Mental Health Director Dr. Stephen Giordano joined Assemblymember John T. McDonald to announce a $350,000 investment from the State to help ACCORD expand into participating municipalities throughout the County and offset costs for staffing, equipment and training. 

“This is good news for Albany County,” Albany County Legislature Chairman Andrew Joyce said. “It was just a year ago that Albany County made its initial investment for the ACCORD program and proactively changed how we handle nonviolent calls for emergency assistance. This funding is the type of investment we need to ensure individuals get the proper help they need and our police can focus on handling crime.”

“I was proud to join my partners in Albany County government to launch the ACCORD pilot program, a natural continuation of our longstanding commitment to meeting the mental health needs of our residents while better utilizing law enforcement resources. This alternative crisis response model has already responded to 240 calls for more than 100 different individuals since we launched it earlier this year,” said Albany County Executive Daniel P. McCoy. “The $350,000 secured by Assemblymember McDonald will allow us to expand this innovative program to help us cover a larger portion of the county and ensure even more people experiencing a mental health crisis can get quick access to the services they need.”

Assemblymember John T. McDonald III said, "The ACCORD pilot program is an innovative and thoughtful approach toward improving public safety while ensuring that those who are struggling with a mental health crisis receive the support that they need. I have secured $350,000 in NYS funding for the program because committing resources to this successful program will allow it to continue to grow and it is a necessary and important investment. Thank you to all of the partners involved in this program and I appreciate everyone who is working together to make this program a success and a model that can be replicated not only here in the Capital Region but statewide."

The County officially launched the ACCORD program in the Hilltowns in June 2021, consisting of two response teams, with social workers from the County’s Mobile Crisis Team and paramedics from the Sheriff’s Office, who have been trained to handle situations involving mental health and nonviolent emergency cases where law enforcement is not essential.

As of December, the program has helped over 100 unique individuals with approximately 240 interactions between phone follow-up and in-person interactions. Each individual was connected with services they needed, significantly reducing the number of calls to 911 dispatch.

“The ACCORD pilot has proven the concept that not all 911 calls need a police response. By having mental health social workers and paramedics respond to certain nonviolent mental health calls has freed up law enforcement to be dispatched to more emergent calls that do require a police response. With the ACCORD expansion, this will increase public safety county wide,” said Sheriff Craig Apple.

“We are in the midst of a mental health crisis and the pandemic has only made it worse.  Our psychiatric hospitals are at capacity and our psychiatric crisis units and emergency departments are overwhelmed.  While communities across the country consider alternative crisis response models, in Albany County we are doing it. ACCORD builds on the Department of Mental Health’s more than 35 years of mobile crisis response experience, ensuring mental health and medical crises are met with compassionate and trained mental health and medical responses in order to divert individuals away from hospitals and jails,” said Albany County Mental Health Department Director Stephen Giordano, Ph.D.

Preliminary plans for expansion involve a commitment from interested municipalities to accept the ACCORD’s mission and values; create a working relationship with County-provided resources depending on jurisdiction and provide essential resources including equipment, staffing and vehicles.

The current existing pilot program utilizes two social workers and two paramedic/EMTs to cover two 8-hour shifts. It is anticipated that most municipalities will require three social workers or other qualified mental health professionals as well as two paramedics/EMTs. Larger municipalities may require a larger team to ensure coverage for that area.

"I am proud to see that the expansion of the ACCORD program is moving forward. Thanks to funding from the NYS Assembly and the County, we are able to continue the successful pilot of ACCORD and make sure that those suffering from mental health crises are met with help from mental health professionals,” said Albany County Legislator Matthew Peter, who represents the 5th district. "For too long, mental health crises have been ignored, underfunded and/or left up to law enforcement, decreasing the quality of care and increasing costs. Expanding ACCORD creates an important step in properly funding mental healthcare and I will continue to fight for vital preventive programs that focus on results and quality of care. I want to thank Assemblymember McDonald, County Executive McCoy, Sheriff Craig Apple, Chairman Andrew Joyce, Dr. Giordano, and my fellow colleagues on the County Legislature for helping this program move forward.”

As a representative of a district in which mental health is a major concern, I am looking forward to seeing the ACCORD program expand so our residents can get the help they deserve. Whenever there is an opportunity for the state and the county to partner together to bring services to those in need, it’s a win for everyone. I want to thank Audit and Finance Committee Vice Chair Matt Peter, County Executive McCoy, Assemblymember McDonald, Sheriff Apple and Dr. Giordano, for their time and effort to put this program together and helping to make a difference,” stated Deputy Chairwoman Wanda Willingham.