Three Things To Read This Week
1. How Seattle Is “Reshaping Its Mental Health Crisis Response System” With Coordinated Dispatchers, Mobile Crisis Response Teams, And Crisis Stabilization Centers.
For The Seattle Times, Taylor Blatchford has a detailed feature on the successful multi-faceted approach King County is taking to mental health calls, by investing in a “mental health-focused response system” that is “driven by [a] 988 crisis lifeline [partnership with 911], mobile crisis teams that respond to emergencies in person, and [crisis stabilization] centers dedicated to providing walk-in care.”
The county’s emergency response system, like most around the country, has “long relied on 911 calls, police officers and firefighters to get people urgent help.” But this approach, the newspaper reports, “hasn’t served people with mental health or substance use needs, who have often ended up in hospital emergency rooms or in jail, or haven’t gotten help at all.”
That’s why leaders in King County told the newspaper that they have modernized their public safety infrastructure by taking the position that this is “a coordinated and integrated system of [services] as opposed to component parts... [that is] super powerful and can create some significant return on investment” by “introducing new dispatchers, new responders and new health care centers” for mental health calls for service, across the county.
The Times’ entire story is worth your time, but here are the topline findings on how the program works:
Someone To Call—Dispatcher Partnership At 988 and 911: “Last March, King County began diverting mental health calls that don’t pose a safety risk to 988, the suicide and crisis lifeline. Staff and volunteers are trained to talk people through crises and de-escalate them, and they’re able to spend more time on the phone with callers… [dispatchers at] South King County 911 calls, started working closer with [dispatchers at] 988 in King County… [Now 911 dispatchers] listen for calls with a mental health connection … if the caller doesn’t have a weapon, and isn’t actively threatening to harm themselves or others, the call receiver can do a ‘warm transfer’ to 988, introducing the caller to the 988 call taker and handing them off.”
911 dispatcher Dustin Freeman told the newspaper that the shift is helping people get the appropriate response faster—whether they need police, fire or mental health assistance—because not all calls need to involve the police: “We weren’t using them enough… when someone is in a mental health crisis, there’s no crime happening, and 988 has more resources to help people.” Dispatchers and mobile crisis team clinicians explained to the newspaper that “most calls to 988 don’t lead to a mobile crisis dispatch; many callers just need someone to talk to. In cases where there isn’t an active safety risk, staff focus on connecting with them and coming up with a plan for what they’ll do after the call.”
Someone Who Shows Up—Mobile Crisis Response Teams: “Dispatchers use an interactive map to track mobile crisis teams spread throughout the county… to help community members connect to health care, shelter or other resources… King County has a total of 27 [mobile crisis response units]... operating teams 24/7…. [helping] community members with mental health and substance use disorders… [or] food and shelter… [patrolling in their team vehicle with] ‘go bags’ stocked with the overdose-reversing drug [Narcan]... People don’t always want services right away, and a key part of the team’s work is following up [in the days and weeks after a call for service]…The mobile crisis teams, 988 and 911 all have to work together to get people the right response at the right time.”
Somewhere To Go—Crisis Stabilization Centers: King County is in the process of opening five crisis stabilization centers across the county, where first responders can take people experiencing a mental health crisis 24/7 where they will “receive urgent mental health care, regardless of insurance status and ability to pay… [The centers] offer multiple levels of mental health care, from urgent care for quick appointments to longer stays up to 14 days,” here’s more detail:
“The first floor has separate entrances for the general public and first responders, who have the guarantee that people they bring will not be turned away.”
“An urgent care clinic lets patients see a clinician for quick appointments like prescription refills.”
“An observation unit where patients can stay for up to 23 hours, a key part of the crisis care center model… in an open common area with staff supervision. Small adjacent spaces are used as ‘calm rooms’ or for consults with providers.”
The second floor has crisis stabilization for patients who come in voluntarily, and one for evaluation and treatment for involuntary patients, committed through the civil court system. Either unit can house patients for up to 14 days.”
Related: Madison, Wisconsin’s Mobile Crisis Response Team Celebrates 10,000 Calls For Service. The city’s Community Alternative Response Emergency Services, or CARES, team, “responded to its 10,000th call for service… a milestone that further cements the program’s place as a valued service in our community,” the city announced last week. The team—composed of a Fire Department medic and mental health crisis professional—“specializes in responding to non-violent behavioral health emergencies that previously would have been dispatched to law enforcement and EMS [and] between active calls for service, the teams follow up with their patients to ensure they have been connected with the services they need.”
2. Transit Ambassador Teams Expanding, Saving Lives
In Los Angeles, “Homelessness Declining On Metro’s Transit System” With Transit Ambassador Team’s “Outreach Model Driving The Results.” Mass Transit Magazine reports on the “the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s system dropping significantly year-to-year… a decrease between 37 and 39 percent… [as Metro] deploys multidisciplinary teams across the bus and rail system, offering resources in real time to individuals in need.”
The Transit Ambassador team focuses “on connecting unhoused riders to supportive services and housing, in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and a network of homeless service providers.” Just last year, the team “connected 2,709 people to interim or permanent housing, exceeding the agency’s goal… by more than 150 percent.”
Related: County leaders just expanded the Transit Ambassadors program this month, as Pasadena Now reports, “creating an in-house Transit Ambassador department… [and] adding 85 positions to enhance safety coverage on buses and trains.” This move makes the Transit Ambassador team “officially now Metro employees — a milestone that is a reflection of the program’s success,” county leaders said in an announcement of the shift. Transit Ambassadors “help riders navigate the Metro system, provide assistance, connect them to resources and report issues that need to be addressed… including summoning emergency help for those customers in distress, as well as providing critical live-saving support.” Since the program first launched in 2023, the team has “helped over 645,000 people… [and] saved 76 lives…”
Albuquerque Launches Transit Ambassador Team. The new team, launched this month, “can be seen in highly visible uniforms and are equipped” with various resources and training to help keep the public transportation system running safely and orderly, from “helping riders navigate the system … [to providing care and services to people experiencing] homelessness and mental health and addiction” issues, Mass Transit magazine reports. Michael Kitchen, who oversees the Transit Ambassador team, explained that “there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to public safety… the more eyes the better. Each piece of the puzzle helps reduce reliance on armed police response” for mental health and addiction calls for service on public transit.
3. Momentum For Overdose Response Teams Across The Country
In Massachusetts, “Hampden County Officials Tout Rapid Response Team [In] Decline In Overdose Incidents.” For WAMC, James Paleologopoulos reports that “local officials are reporting progress and touting a special team that’s been making inroads… [in] Hampden County [which has] one of the highest opioid overdose rates in the commonwealth.” The Rapid Response and Connection Team “provides direct outreach to individuals within 24-72 hours post an overdose occurrence and to those who are at-risk [of a future overdose].” During the outreach, the team “connects individuals to immediate services, case-management, follow-up and … provides support and treatment resources as well as Narcan.” Since its launch, the team has made “2,235 outreach attempts [and has] helped get 231 individuals into treatment...”
District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, a champion of the overdose response team, explained to the news station why he supports the team responding to to these kinds of calls, instead of other first responders like law enforcement or paramedics: “there is direct outreach to them and to their families within 24 hours after that incident, really reaching out at that vulnerable time to ensure that services are provided in a very non-threatening way to make sure that individual going through that experience has an opportunity towards recovery and doesn't return to substance use…”In Virginia, Prince George County Launches “Mobile Overdose Response Unit” That “Brings Addiction Response And Recovery Support Directly To People’s Doorsteps.” For WRIC, Sahara Sriraman reports on the county’s new Mobile Overdose Response Unit, a “first-of-its-kind” in the region “aimed at saving lives and breaking the cycle of addiction.” The team, unlike traditional emergency response from police or medics, “is designed to step in after the initial overdose incident — typically within 48 to 72 hours — and offer personalized, sustained support…. helping them create recovery plans, attend meetings or access services such as detox, outpatient therapy and social support.” The team also serves a prevention role in the county, visiting “local schools, faith organizations and civic groups to raise awareness about addiction, recovery and the resources available, especially in rural areas where conversations around opioid use often happen behind closed doors.”
In Kentucky, “If A Louisvillian Overdoses, This Team Will Be There.” For the Louisville Courier Journal, Eleanor McCrary reports on the city’s Quick Response Team, which “each day, receives a list of referrals from Louisville Metro EMS, Louisville Fire and area police departments” where there has been an overdose recently. The team then “visits people who have experienced an overdose within 72 hours and… “delivers Narcan, to individuals and family members, refers people to medication for opioid use disorder and other treatment services… refers people to other resources including mental and physical healthcare, utility assistance, housing…” Since launching, the team has responded to 7,200 calls, “distributed more than 3,000 units of Narcan and has referred about 250 people to treatment.”
