![M-CAT; mobile crisis assistance team; public policy institute; research; mental illness](http://blogs.iu.edu/speaindy/files/2017/08/MCAT4-23faew3.jpg)
By Katie Bailey and Joti Kaur
Researchers from the Indiana University Public Policy Institute will conduct process and outcome evaluations of the city’s newly-adopted Mobile Crisis Assistance Team, also known as M-CAT. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett announced the formation of the crisis team earlier this month.
Like several other cities across the county, Indianapolis is aiming to divert people with a mental illness from the cycle of incarceration at the earliest point of the criminal justice system: arrest. To accomplish this, the Office of Public Health and Safety has collaborated with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, and Eskenazi Midtown Community Mental Health to pilot M-CAT.