The Health Care District of Palm Beach County, alongside local law enforcement partners, recently announced the latest community mental health partnership to combat the cycle of crisis, Operation: COAST (Crisis Outreach and Support Team). Operation: COAST is a mental health partnership with local law enforcement partners in Palm Beach County that:

  • Deploys peer responders and therapists alongside the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in response to mental health-related 911 calls.
  • De-escalates situations that otherwise would have resulted in unnecessary Baker Acts or incarceration.
  • Alleviates overutilization of the 911 system as a mental health resource.
  • Provides law enforcement partners an appropriate place to take those in crisis to get specialized and immediate outpatient psychiatric care at the Health Care District’s Community Health Center in northeast West Palm Beach. Currently, over 80% of COAST drop-offs are complete in 20 minutes, allowing critical front-line law enforcement to efficiently protect and serve.
  • Gives patients a medical home through the Health Care District for continued comprehensive and psychiatric outpatient care to prevent additional crises and support overall wellness.

“Before Operation: COAST, law enforcement only had two tools in their toolbox when responding to crisis calls: hospitalization or jail. Within six months, less than 2% of Operation: COAST patients transported to our Community Health Center required a Baker Act,” said Darcy J. Davis, President and CEO of the Health Care District of Palm Beach County. “Together, we’re strengthening crisis response and making mental health care more accessible and upstream – before situations become emergencies.”

“Over 300 patients have been served through Operation: COAST,” said Courtney Phillips, M.D., Vice President of Behavioral Health at the Health Care District. “That’s 300 people who could have been another unnecessary Baker Act, hospitalization, or incarceration. To put that into perspective, that’s how many people were Baker Acted over three times in a 180-day period in Palm Beach County between 2023 and 2024. The evidence is clear. By joining forces with our law enforcement partners under Operation: COAST, this is just the beginning of a sustainable and monumental program that is already saving lives.”