Ann Arbor police now pair an officer with a social worker on some 911 mental health calls

ANN ARBOR — Some 911 calls about a person in a mental health crisis in Ann Arbor now bring two responders who work as a pair: a police officer trained in crisis intervention and a licensed social worker from Washtenaw County Community Mental Health.

The program is called A2 REACH, short for Respond, Engage, Assist, Co-response Help. The Ann Arbor Police Department announced it in a Nov. 12 city news release that set the start for Friday, Nov. 13.

The first team is Officer Anya Shinabery and Nicole Berent, a licensed master social worker who serves as the county agency’s mental health co-response clinician. Shinabery joined the department in December 2023 after working as a cadet there and is on its Crisis Intervention Team, the city said. Berent has more than six years of experience in acute psychiatric care, mobile crisis response and community mental health, and earned her master of social work at the University of Michigan.

“This partnership helps us connect people with appropriate support and resources when they need them most, while improving outcomes for individuals, families and our community,” Police Chief Andre Anderson said in the release.

How a call reaches the team

A2 REACH works Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The city says anyone having or witnessing a mental health crisis should call 911, and dispatchers decide which response to send, including A2 REACH when the team is on duty and the call fits. On a weekend like this one, that means the next scheduled shift is Monday.

On a call, the officer and the clinician handle de-escalation together, check for immediate safety risks, work out a safety plan and connect the person with mental health services and other help. The city says the team is meant for immediate needs and follow-up connections, not long-term care.

The two wear uniforms and drive a marked patrol vehicle that set them apart from a regular patrol officer, WEMU reported. “Overall, we’re just trying to meet people where they’re at, so that way, they know that we are here to help them rather than, you know, have them enter the criminal justice system,” Shinabery told the station.

One of two new crisis programs

The Ann Arbor City Council approved two new crisis response programs earlier this year, the city said; MLive reported the approval came in July. The second, called SPROUT, sends unarmed responders to lower-risk calls such as concerns about people without housing, welfare checks and victim support, according to MLive.

Executive Director Trish Cortes of Washtenaw County Community Mental Health said the agency has used the co-response model elsewhere in the county. “We have seen tremendous results with this model in other parts of the county and are confident we will see those same results in the city of Ann Arbor,” she said.

The city said the A2 REACH logo was developed and picked with input from residents.

Sources:
City of Ann Arbor, “Ann Arbor Police Department launches crisis response program A2REACH with Washtenaw County Community Mental Health,” Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.a2gov.org/news/posts/ann-arbor-police-department-launches-crisis-response-program-a2reach-with-washtenaw-county-community-mental-health/
WEMU, “Ann Arbor launches new crisis response team,” Nov. 14, 2026, https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-11-14/ann-arbor-launches-new-crisis-response-team
MLive, “Ann Arbor launches program pairing cop with social worker to handle mental health crises,” Nov. 13, 2026, https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/11/ann-arbor-launches-program-pairing-cop-with-social-worker-to-handle-mental-health-crises.html
Photo: Elsa Blaine / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), altered. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ann_Arbor_(MI)_Police_K9_Ford_CVPI.jpg

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Tags: Ann Arbor · Ann Arbor Police Department · A2 REACH · Washtenaw County Community Mental Health · Mental health · 911