MADISON, Wis. — It has been over a month since Madison’s CARES team expanded its coverage range to Sun Prairie.
CARES stands for Community Alternative Response Emergency Services. It acts as an "additional available resource for behavioral health emergencies," and has served Madison since 2021. It expanded services to Sun Prairie in Feb. 2025 as part of a year-long pilot program.
"A cornerstone of the initiative is to ensure that medical and behavioral health care is integrated at the onset of crisis intervention, increasing patient satisfaction while diverting people away from emergency rooms and jails," its website explained. When someone calls 911, the Dane County Public Safety Communications Center decides if it should send a CARES team for the specific situation, should a team be available.
Makenzie Livingstone is a crisis responder with the CARES team. She believes every community would benefit from having an alternative response unit like CARES.
“Mental health is everywhere and it affects everyone,” Livingstone said. “And so being able to expand in Sun Prairie just means we get to help more people experiencing mental health episodes.”
In the first quarter of 2024, Sun Prairie Fire and Emergency Medical Services responded to 42 incidents involving individuals with mental health concerns who could have benefited from CARES.
The Sun Prairie Police Department responded to 32 similar incidents.
The CARES team works solely with the City of Madison Fire Department, and is in downtown Madison.
There are currently six CARES teams. Each team consists of one community paramedic and a mental health expert. They work varying shifts so that there are three teams in service during peak weekday hours.
When responding to calls in Sun Prairie, Livingstone said teams are dispatched from downtown Madison; collaboration plays a key role in their response.
“Prior to going to Sun Prairie, we met with the law enforcement and the law enforcement social worker,” Livingstone said. “And they were able to provide us a lot of resources that they have in Sun Prairie, so [community members] don’t have to access resources in Madison.”
Livingstone said it took some time for the Madison community to get used to CARES being there. She said she expects a similar reaction from those in Sun Prairie.
“Now we are having people call specifically requesting the CARES team and I am hoping we will get to that point in Sun Prairie as well,” Livingstone said.
Livingstone and her team hope to add more team members, so CARES can offer services to additional communities. First, they said they would require more funding from the city or county.
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