South Tucson launches Co-Responder program to address homelessness, addiction

For people living, working, or spending time in South Tucson, a new response is being directed at two challenges that often overlap in the community: homelessness and substance use disorders. The City of South Tucson and Pima County have launched the RISE Co-Responder Program, pairing law enforcement officers with mental health professionals when responding to calls involving people in crisis. The program is intended to connect those individuals with treatment, housing assistance, and recovery services, while helping police concentrate on their public safety responsibilities.

RISE is built around a team approach. Rather than relying solely on a police response when a call involves a person experiencing a mental health crisis, homelessness, or addiction, the program brings a mental health specialist into the response. Together, officers and behavioral health professionals can address the immediate situation and help identify services that may support a person after the call has ended. Program leaders describe the effort as a way to provide more direct assistance to people whose needs extend beyond traditional law enforcement.

The initiative is focused particularly on people experiencing homelessness and individuals struggling with fentanyl addiction. Those challenges can make it difficult for people to find stable housing, access treatment, or remain connected to recovery resources. RISE is designed to meet people in the field, where officers and mental health specialists can work directly with individuals in crisis. The program also extends into local courts, giving the teams another setting in which to connect people with options for treatment and other assistance.

For South Tucson residents, the program represents an effort to address the underlying needs associated with some crisis calls rather than treating each encounter as an isolated public safety issue. Police will remain part of the response, but they will be working alongside professionals whose role is to help people navigate mental health and recovery services. That arrangement is intended to make it easier for individuals to receive support while keeping law enforcement focused on the responsibilities that require police intervention.

The program’s goals include reducing homelessness and helping people move away from fentanyl addiction. Officials say the broader objective is to help people get off the streets and reach the services they need. Housing assistance is one part of that effort, while treatment and recovery resources are others. By combining these connections in one program, RISE aims to provide a path toward support for people who might otherwise continue cycling through crisis situations without reaching services.

The involvement of Pima County gives the effort a broader public partnership beyond South Tucson’s city government. The city and county are jointly launching the program, bringing together local law enforcement, mental health professionals, courts, and service connections. That collaboration reflects the range of challenges involved when homelessness, addiction, and crisis response intersect. No single service is identified as the sole solution. Instead, the program is structured around connecting people with the particular resources they may need.

RISE is being funded with opioid settlement dollars. The funding links the program to the wider response to the harms caused by opioid addiction, including fentanyl use. Those settlement funds are supporting an initiative that combines public safety with treatment and recovery assistance. In South Tucson, the money is being directed toward a program intended to reach people in crisis directly and help them connect with services that could address their housing and substance use needs.

The launch also creates a new point of contact for people who may have had difficulty accessing help through existing systems. Teams will work in the field and through local courts, allowing the program to engage people in more than one setting. The stated aim is not only to respond when a crisis occurs, but also to help individuals take steps toward treatment, housing, and recovery. That work will be carried out through the partnership between police officers and mental health specialists.

For the South Tucson community, the program’s progress will be measured by whether people experiencing homelessness and addiction are able to reach stable support. City officials say the initiative is meant to help people leave the streets and access needed services, while also allowing officers to devote more attention to public safety. RISE therefore places both goals in the same framework: responding to immediate crises and building connections to longer term assistance. The program’s launch marks South Tucson and Pima County’s latest effort to address homelessness and fentanyl addiction through a coordinated response.