Mobile Crisis Teams

Mobile crisis teams are mental health professionals dispatched through 911 to behavioral health emergencies — suicidal ideation, psychotic episodes, substance use crises — instead of law enforcement.1 Sarah Henrickson, co-founder of Madison, Wisconsin's CARES crisis program, describes the logic: "You wouldn't call your plumber to fix your teeth. You want the expertise to match with what the issue is."2

Dr. Jonathan Porteus, president of Ri International, described the origin problem to CBS News: "Before 988, 911 was the only option in a mental health crisis," which typically led "to a hospital, or to jail."1

Three models are often discussed alongside mobile crisis teams: co-responder programs, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, and hospital-based psychiatric response. Each differs from mobile crisis teams in structure, staffing, and documented outcomes.

Mobile crisis teams serve anyone experiencing a mental health crisis, substance use emergency, or related behavioral health challenge who needs immediate help but doesn't pose a violent threat.1

The evidence base for mobile crisis response includes independent evaluations from Stanford, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Wayne State University, and a multi-study review in BMC Health Services Research, alongside operational data from programs in cities across the country.1234

A 2024 national survey identified at least 1,800 mobile crisis service providers in the United States.1 According to data compiled by the Associated Press, 14 of the 20 most populous cities have programs running or in development, with combined annual budgets exceeding $123 million as of June 2023.2 NYU's Barry Friedman, quoted in the New York Times, identified "more than 130 alternative response programs operating across the country."3

A national survey of 2,503 registered voters, conducted in 2024, found that 80% say mobile crisis response units are "effective" at making communities safer, including 72% of Republicans.1 When forced to choose, 58% of voters prefer investing in mobile crisis units over hiring more police officers (34% prefer more police).2

Mobile crisis response sits at the intersection of law enforcement, emergency dispatch, mental health, and city budgets. Every constituency experiences it differently.

Mobile crisis response has an unusually strong evidence base for a policy this young. It also has real operational limits and political vulnerabilities that a leader needs to understand before launch.

Ten design decisions shape every mobile crisis program, and they're sequential: each one constrains the next.

Mobile crisis programs cost less than police response per case, and when you add the downstream costs they prevent (ER visits, jail bookings, repeat crises), the gap widens further. As of September 2024, 21 states have opted into Medicaid's enhanced 85% federal match for mobile crisis services under ARPA, with the enhanced rate running for 36 months from each state's implementation date. Durham's HEART program generates $902 in net savings per call, leading NBER researchers to conclude it "pays for itself through fiscal externalities."2

Curated from program launches, press coverage, legislative testimony, and original polling