Hayward’s HEART pairs clinicians with officers for mobile mental‑health response
May 19, 2026 | Hayward City, Alameda County, California
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Presenter outlined Hayward City’s HEART model as two coordinated teams: the Mental Health and Case Management Linkages Team (LINC) and the Hayward Mobile Evaluation Team (MET). “The Mental Health and Case Management Linkages Team or LINC and the Hayward Mobile Evaluation Team or MET,” the presenter said, noting the teams serve different functions and work in partnership.
The presenter described MET as a field partnership that pairs “a county clinician and the Hayward police officer” to respond when someone may be unsafe to themselves or others, emphasizing immediate evaluation and safety safeguards. The patrol officer praised the approach, saying, “The best decision the city of Hayward ever made was incorporating mental health with the police,” and added that clinicians handle clinical work while officers provide security when needed.
The presenter said LINC focuses on connecting people to longer‑term services that address the underlying issues that prompt repeated 911 activations. A staff member summarized the caseload, saying, “Majority of the calls are, like, mental health related, substance use, and or homelessness,” and described regular street outreach to link people with services.
Speakers framed the MET–LINC partnership as the program’s “secret sauce,” with the patrol officer describing how working with clinicians improved his de‑escalation skills and led to rewarding follow‑up contacts from families. A staff member emphasized persistence in outreach: “we don't give up on them,” and shared an example of sustained engagement—after six months of outreach one person who repeatedly declined services finally accepted help and said, “Hook me up.”
Staff suggested expanding housing navigation capacity, noting examples of staff bringing housing matches into field contacts and proposing that more coordinated housing navigation could improve outcomes for people not yet in the coordinated‑entry assessment system. Presenters and staff recommended the model as a template other cities could adopt to address overlapping mental‑health, substance‑use and homelessness calls.
No formal motions or votes were recorded in the session. The briefing focused on program operations, examples from field work, and possibilities for adding housing navigation support within existing teams.
The presenter described MET as a field partnership that pairs “a county clinician and the Hayward police officer” to respond when someone may be unsafe to themselves or others, emphasizing immediate evaluation and safety safeguards. The patrol officer praised the approach, saying, “The best decision the city of Hayward ever made was incorporating mental health with the police,” and added that clinicians handle clinical work while officers provide security when needed.
The presenter said LINC focuses on connecting people to longer‑term services that address the underlying issues that prompt repeated 911 activations. A staff member summarized the caseload, saying, “Majority of the calls are, like, mental health related, substance use, and or homelessness,” and described regular street outreach to link people with services.
Speakers framed the MET–LINC partnership as the program’s “secret sauce,” with the patrol officer describing how working with clinicians improved his de‑escalation skills and led to rewarding follow‑up contacts from families. A staff member emphasized persistence in outreach: “we don't give up on them,” and shared an example of sustained engagement—after six months of outreach one person who repeatedly declined services finally accepted help and said, “Hook me up.”
Staff suggested expanding housing navigation capacity, noting examples of staff bringing housing matches into field contacts and proposing that more coordinated housing navigation could improve outcomes for people not yet in the coordinated‑entry assessment system. Presenters and staff recommended the model as a template other cities could adopt to address overlapping mental‑health, substance‑use and homelessness calls.
No formal motions or votes were recorded in the session. The briefing focused on program operations, examples from field work, and possibilities for adding housing navigation support within existing teams.
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