Rochester invites residents to discuss crisis response services at Oct. 21 meeting

Rochester, New York – Rochester residents will have an opportunity to discuss the city’s crisis response services and learn about a planned expansion during a public meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

The City of Rochester will host the Person in Crisis Team Community Engagement Session from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Stardust Ballroom, 41 Backus St. Residents, crisis service advocates, human-service organizations and other stakeholders are invited to participate.

The meeting will focus on the team’s first five years of service and plans to bring peer navigators into its work through the Daniel’s Law Pilot Project.

Read also: RIT professor earns two awards for her work improving chemistry education

Launched in 2021, the city’s Person in Crisis Team, known as PIC, offers a non-law enforcement response to emergency calls involving mental health, substance abuse or behavioral distress. The team responded to about 8,000 calls in 2025.

The upcoming session gives members of the public a chance to share their thoughts about those services as the city prepares for the next stage of the program. Along with looking back at PIC’s work, participants can learn about how people with personal experience of crisis will become part of its response.

In February, the team received a $2 million grant from the New York State Office of Mental Health. The funding supports implementation of the urban component of the Daniel’s Law Pilot Project in Rochester.

Read also: New mural at Rochester’s Lyell Branch Library celebrates family connections and nature

That project will add peer navigators to the team’s response protocols. These navigators are community members with lived experience of crisis who will bring that perspective to the program.

The city is currently preparing to hire people for those roles. The Oct. 21 meeting will provide an opportunity to hear about the planned additions while offering feedback on the service already in place.

The discussion will bring together residents and organizations with an interest in crisis services as PIC moves toward incorporating peer navigators into its work.