New community mental health manager position to be created in Coral Springs

In response to a rising need for mental health services in Coral Springs in recent years, the city will hire a community mental health manager.

The position is designed to connect residents in need of mental health support with the appropriate resources, tools and programs that are out there. Police are hoping the new role will allow for a more proactive approach to mental health crises, rather than a reactive one.

Division Chief Chris Bator and Sean Khan, who joined the clinician response team earlier this year, presented the new position to city staff during an April 22 commission retreat.

Police officers would still respond to Baker Act calls, which is when an individual is hospitalized for risk of harming themselves or others, but this new person would conduct visits or calls for non-emergency cases that currently fall largely on the shoulders of officers or crisis intervention team members, who are trained but aren’t mental health clinicians.

The community mental health manager would also conduct follow-ups after initial calls or Baker Acts, when the situation is deemed safe. This would free up officers to respond to other cases.

Commissioner Joe McHugh, a 28-year veteran of the Coral Springs Police Department, described the new role as a “tremendous asset” that would lighten the workload for police officers as well.

The number of Baker Act cases in Coral Springs increased from 419 to 599 from 2023 to 2025, according to a presentation, while behavioral health calls dropped from 631 to 521 from 2023 to 2024.

Fire rescue overdose calls have stayed mostly steady, with just under 130 per year, but that figure omits overdose calls that don’t require transport, leaving police officers to manage some of those cases.

Khan said he spent 18 years with a Baker Act unit and saw that many people didn’t know what resources were out there, often turning to 911 for mental health treatment. He said he hopes this new position can reduce those calls.

“To tie a police officer with getting those resources is a great amount of time, and this individual will complement our CIT officers, our community paramedics and our victim advocate,” Khan said.

Commissioner Joshua Simmons, a former mental health professional, asked about the timeline from when a call comes in to when the follow-up would happen.

Simmons and Mayor Scott Brook said they both have been pushing for this type of dedicated position for years and are excited to see it come to fruition.

The position would be within the police department, but the manager would also work closely with the fire department and other city teams. The position will be funded through opioid abatement settlement money from manufacturers and distributors accused of contributing to the opioid crisis.