988 and Mobile Crisis Response
States Can Use the CCBHC Model to Streamline Mobile Crisis Response and Other Mental Health and Substance Use Services, Including 988.
View ResourceIf a person in crisis cannot or will not come to a crisis center for assessment, the mobile crisis team can bring the assessment to them — in the community.
In an ideal crisis system, if someone cannot access resources like 988, or their crisis cannot be resolved via calling/texting/chatting 988, trained professionals are needed to respond in person. In the absence of these services, law enforcement officers and emergency departments become the front lines of crisis response, often leading to incarceration, hospitalization or other potentially avoidable negative outcomes for the individuals in crisis.
The National Council recognizes the importance of mobile crisis teams — also known as mobile crisis outreach teams or mobile crisis outreach — as a critical component of an effective and trauma-informed mental health and substance use system of care. Mobile crisis teams support people in their community environments, where they are comfortable, and avoid unnecessary law enforcement involvement, emergency department use and hospitalization.
CCBHCs and Mobile Crisis
Currently, mobile crisis services and models used at the state, territory, tribal and local levels vary around the country. CCBHCs are helping expand access to mobile crisis services nationwide, as they are required to provide crisis response services, including 24-hour mobile crisis response and crisis stabilization services. Emergency departments (EDs) and local justice agencies are required care coordination partners for CCBHCs.
The CCBHC model has supported clinics in engaging in co-responder initiatives (41%), dispatching mental health/substance use response teams in lieu of law enforcement (27%), establishing crisis drop-off facilities to allow officers to transition an individual more quickly to clinical treatment rather than hospitalization or jail and working with EDs to divert individuals in crisis to outpatient services where clinically appropriate.
CCBHC crisis care services include:
Prevention
- Early engagement in care
- Crisis prevention planning
- Outreach and support outside the clinic
Crisis Response
- 24/7 mobile teams
- Crisis stabilization
- Suicide prevention
- Detoxification
- Coordination with law enforcement and hospitals
Postcrisis Care
- Discharge/release planning, support and coordination
- Comprehensive outpatient mental health and substance use disorder care
Learn how CCBHCs can strengthen the crisis care system:
Member Spotlight: Solari
Solari developed a Dispatch Management System (DMS) to communicate client and crisis data to mobile teams in real time. This enables:
- Information-sharing with mobile crisis teams. Once a mobile team is dispatched, the team receives the information related to that dispatch through a mobile application in real time.
- Tracking of mobile team location. DMS employs vehicle-mounted hardware that sends GPS location information to track teams in real time on a map.
- Real-time data entry. DMS also allows mobile teams to log en-route, on-scene and cleared times in the app, minimizing the need for manual data entry of key reporting data points. These data points are fed back into the electronic health record and the data warehouse to allow for reporting on the end-to-end experience of the crisis caller.
