Spotlight: Dallas RIGHT Care Program
Days after the tragic death of LaDamonyon "DeeDee" Hall on May 26, 2022, questions about the availability of the RIGHT care program services and their response to mental health crises are in question.
DeeDee Hall died in the back of an ambulance under DPD custody after experiencing a mental health crisis. A witness called 911, mentioning that Dee Dee "was under the influence of some sort of drugs or alcohol due to the suspect yelling and falling down."
When DPD officers and Fire Rescue paramedics arrived on the scene, Dee Dee appeared to be somewhat stable, although it didn't take much to notice just how terrified she was by being encountered by police. On video footage released 12 days after her death, she can be heard saying multiple times, " oh my god," "don't kill me," and "I'm dying."
It is unclear how Dee Dee ended up on the ground as she was encountered by paramedics. She eventually got up and began to try to take her clothes off in distress; she was then forced to the ground by DPD officers.
What is apparent from video evidence is that Dee Dee was handled inappropriately. She was forced to the ground, handcuffed, had a knee against her back, was misgendered on multiple occasions, had a spit hood put on her head, and her cry for help was ignored entirely.
At no point did any of the officers or fire rescue officers who responded to this call mention calling or receiving assistance from teams assigned by the RIGHT care program to handle cases such as this.
Dee Dee died 30 minutes after this encounter on her way to Baylor Hospital.
The Rapid Integrated Group Healthcare Team (RIGHT Care) program was founded as a collaboration between The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, Dallas Police Department, and Parkland Health & Hospital System.
Dallas' RIGHT Care program has teams consisting of police officers, fire department paramedics, and licensed Parkland hospital clinical social workers that respond to 911 calls related to someone in a mental health crisis. The program also provides 911 call centers with a mental health clinician who can act as a liaison between DPD and the RIGHT care team.
Dallas became the first city in the country to house a mental health clinician in the 911 call center.
A study by MMHPI funded by Caruth found that the number of mental health-related emergency calls to the Dallas 911 center increased by an average of 18 percent from 2012 to 2015, with some divisions surging up to 85 percent. The study also found that roughly 17,000 people with mental illness are booked into the Dallas County jail annually, and 40 percent return within a year of release.
The Pilot program was launched on Jan. 29, 2018, through a multi-million dollar grant from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at the Communities Foundation of Texas.
According to the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, RIGHT Care teams responded to 6,679 calls from Jan. 29, 2018, to Jun. 7, 2020
The Dallas City Council voted on September 2021 to approve $2 million for Dallas Fire-Rescue to hire more paramedics and equipment to help double the number of RIGHT Care teams from five to ten.
RIGHT Care teams answered more than 11,400 behavioral crisis calls in 2021, involving nearly 8,000 people. In almost 1,500 cases, people were diverted from jail.
The RIGHT Care program provides the residents of Dallas with a comprehensive approach to emergency mental health response. It's an alternative to having only police officers respond to these calls and can lead to people being directed to health services rather than jail, or worse, death.
Dallas officials plan to use a $175,000 grant to allow a city emergency mental health response team to respond to calls received overnight. The RIGHT care teams work from 7 am- to 11 pm seven days a week. It is estimated that 25% of mental health crisis calls come in after business hours.