Since it launched in 2020, Denver’s mental distress response unit has expanded exponentially.
After starting with a skeleton crew and just one van, Denver’s Support Team Assisted Response, or STAR, now has a fleet of eight vans and responds to nonviolent crises citywide.
The police alternative is set to expand again in 2025, thanks to a grant from an external group and a bump in city funding, although Mayor Mike Johnston has denied a request for additional money beyond that.
STAR started four years ago as advocates across the city called for police reform. Through STAR, paramedics and mental health professionals are sent to respond to nonviolent crises, especially people who are in distress or experiencing a mental health issue. Staff are trained in medical assessment, crisis intervention and de-escalation.
The new $1.5 million grant will help STAR continue its partnerships for one year with the nonprofits Servicios de la Raza and WellPower, which help to operate the program.
The one-year grant will allow WellPower to hire a behavioral health clinical supervisor and “create a more organized, responsive, and effective operational structure for STAR," among other things. WellPower is a nonprofit recovery and treatment center in Denver.
Caring for Denver has awarded a grant to STAR every year since it started in 2020. The grants have averaged roughly $650,000 a year, so this year’s grant represents a significant expansion. The Denver City Council approved the grant on Monday.
Caring For Denver is a nonprofit that awards grants for mental health and substance misuse prevention. It was established by Denver voters in 2018 and is funded through local sales tax revenue.
STAR’s new grant comes as Denver City Council struggles to find more city funding for the popular service
The service has been busy since its debut, with monthly STAR-eligible calls increasing each year. But supply has not kept up with demand for the program. The team could only respond to about half of the 15,000 emergency calls that were eligible for a STAR response last year, and not for lack of trying.
STAR officials said they could increase their response rates through more funding, which would allow the service to hire more staff, purchase more vehicles for its fleet and become a 24/7 service. While the program expanded rapidly between 2020 and 2023, this year marked a period of stagnancy for STAR.
The council has been open to requests for money, but its last effort to substantially increase STAR’s budget failed.
For the 2025 budget cycle, Mayor Mike Johnston proposed an initial $6.9 million for STAR, up from this year’s $6.4 million allocation, which he said would allow them to hire a public health analyst and a behavioral health manager.
In response, council members asked for an extra $50,000 for STAR, which would help build a new database system and purchase a new van to add to the fleet.
In Johnston’s revised budget released on Friday, he denied the request, saying that his initial budget would “improve the efficiency of current operations to support more STAR calls during operating hours.”
“Additionally, in the spring, we are anticipating a report from Urban Institute, a third-party evaluator, which will include a study on costs, long-term outcomes, and a scaling assessment,” he wrote. “This report, which we will share with Council, will be invaluable as we plan for future expansions of the program.”
City council members will be able to propose and vote on amendments to the budget by Nov. 4. The mayor can veto those amendments, but Denver City Council can override that veto if nine members vote to do so.
Denver’s $1.76 billion budget is growing by only 0.6 percent next year, the smallest growth seen since 2011. Spending on homelessness and new immigrants, two issues that demanded much of Denver’s budget in 2023, is decreasing. Johnston’s office attributed budgetary woes to a slowdown in consumer spending.
