Mobile Crisis Response

Overview

Mobile crisis teams offer community-based intervention to individuals in need, including at home, work, or anywhere else in the community. Mobile crisis response teams provide an immediate response to a crisis and deliver crisis intervention services at locations throughout a community. Mobile crisis teams typically triage the situation by providing crisis screening, intervention, de-escalation services, coordination with medical and behavioral health services, and crisis planning. Some mobile crisis response teams also provide proactive outreach and case management services to individuals following a crisis event. Mobile crisis response teams work closely with law enforcement, crisis hotlines, the community, and family members.

Mobile crisis response teams typically consist of clinicians, case managers, and peer support specialists. Some teams may also include law enforcement and/or emergency medical responders, depending on the nature of the call. Teleservices may support immediate access to a behavioral health clinician in rural communities.

Common partners include local health departments, behavioral health service agencies, family and youth-serving organizations, peer recovery organizations, local coordinating councils, criminal justice coordinators, Medicaid agencies, schools, hospitals, and county administrators.

Resources

Program Models

Individuals placed on the frequent utilizer list are noted on select county Behavioral Health system databases. When they show up at the CARE campus for detoxification or the Public Inebriate Intervention Program, the intake team will see they are on the frequent utilizer list. The same is true for those arriving at the county’s Resource Reentry Center in Downtown Albuquerque, where inmates go immediately after release from jail for support services as they transition back into daily life. When staff meet someone from the frequent utilizer list at either site, they offer case management. If the individual already has it, they try to connect them to that case manager; if not, they ask if they’d like one.

The Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) program is a community responder program in Eugene, Oregon. Through CAHOOTS, mobile crisis intervention teams are dispatched throughout the city after a person calls 911 or the local non-emergency contact number. CAHOOTS’ services are offered 24/7 and include trauma-informed de-escalation, welfare checks, first aid and non-emergency medical care, suicide prevention and intervention, housing crisis assistance, and crisis counseling. The CAHOOTS program handles about 19 percent of all police calls for service in Eugene, and less than 1 percent of their calls require police backup.

Denver STAR is a behavioral health response program. STAR employees are not armed and do not perform any law enforcement duties. Calls to 911 are triaged to determine if a call is appropriate for a STAR response and if so, a STAR van is dispatched to the scene staffed with a Denver Health Paramedic and an MHCD Clinician. Results from a 2021 evaluation of the STAR program showed that during the first six months of the program, the team responded to 748 calls, and no calls required the assistance of the Denver Police Department, and no individuals were arrested.

The Atlanta-based Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative (PAD) is a law enforcement diversion program created to provide an immediate alternative to arresting people committing violations commonly related to mental health needs, addiction, and homelessness. The PAD program receives referrals through the City of Atlanta’s non-emergency 311 line and law enforcement when they have detained someone for a violation related to behavioral health or poverty. The PAD Harm Reduction Team conducts outreach and works with individuals to assess their immediate needs and provide ongoing support, including a warm meal, transportation to emergency shelters, help to navigate care options, or referrals to other service providers.

The SMART team consists of a law enforcement officer and a behavioral health specialist who co-respond to mental health-related police calls. They then collaborate with the third team member, the case manager, who provides critical follow-up for the client, connecting them with the most appropriate community resources. The program delivers a continuum of care from crisis response through stabilization, with the ultimate goal of safe return to the community.

The Reach Out Initiative includes a team of stakeholders that cross over multiple systems, including mental health, substance abuse, law enforcement, pretrial services, courts, jails, community corrections, housing, health, social services, family members and many others. The goal of the Yavapai County Reach Out Program is to identify people with Mental Health and  Co-Occurring Disorders at the earliest possible criminal justice intercept and link them to care to help prevent them from re-offending.

Funding

Below is a list of funding opportunities that have been previously available from federal and private funding sources. Please note that although the funding deadlines may have passed, they can still be reviewed and considered for future planning purposes. You can check back often on the Announcements page for current funding opportunities as they are announced.

Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Site-based Program

Technical Assistance

Many federal agencies and other partners offer assistance, in addition to grant funding, to jurisdictions, agencies and stakeholders to address training needs or the need for subject matter expertise to address local issues or challenges. Through these resources, you can access recent publications, tools, often request one-on-one remote or offsite assistance. Examples of assistance can include time with trainings, consulting time with subject matter experts, and/or opportunities for connecting with peers doing similar work.

Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant and Substance Abuse Program Training and Technical Assistance

The COSSAP training and technical assistance (TTA) program offers a variety of learning opportunities and assistance to support BJA COSSAP grantees and other local, tribal, and state stakeholders to build and sustain multidisciplinary criminal justice responses to illicit substance use and misuse. Training and technical assistance is provided in a variety of formats, including virtual and in-person training events, workshop and meeting presentations, and online resources. TTA deliveries are provided to requestors free of charge. You can request assistance here.