Hartford’s health director told the committee on Nov. 4 that the city has renewed its contract with the HEART team for Nov. 1, 2025, through Oct. 31, 2026, but that the program will operate with modifications because of decreased funding. "Modifications of the programming have been made because of the decreased funding," Ebony Jackson Shahid said.

Shahid described specific operational changes: the Community Renewal Team (CRT) and Capital Region Mobile Crisis will remain partners under the HEART team; CRT’s hours of operation will be reduced from 12 hours a day to Monday and Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wheeler Health will not have a dedicated HEART team line item but will be accessible via 2-1-1, 24 hours a day. Shahid said the modifications were developed collectively with HEART team partners and that data about call timing and volumes informed confidence that the reductions would not cause clients to "fall through the cracks." She offered Patricia McIntosh as the partner to brief members on operational details.

Council members pressed for clarity about which funding sources decreased and by how much. Shahid said the decrease was "a collective decrease" from various sources and that staff would provide a funding breakdown: "So we can send you that information, councilman." Members said they want line-item detail ahead of the next budget season so the council can assess whether to restore or expand funding.

Council members also raised concerns about the reduced hours and the potential impact on calls that would otherwise be diverted away from police responses. Shahid said the partners believed the new model could maintain coverage but agreed to schedule a deeper briefing with Patricia McIntosh and other partners to explain the model and the data behind the changes.

No formal vote or ordinance on the HEART team was taken at the meeting; council members requested follow-up materials and data for future budget and oversight discussions.