Mobile Crisis Response Team

About the Program

Category: Human Services (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

Law enforcement agencies in San Diego County receive thousands of calls annually involving a psychiatric crisis. Many of those calls do not require law enforcement involvement and would be better served by a clinical response team. The Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) program provides non-law enforcement, clinician-led, community-based crisis response. The teams, comprised of licensed mental health clinicians, case managers, and peer support specialists, work closely with law enforcement, crisis stabilization units, and behavioral health service providers while leveraging existing community-based supports and services. These clinical teams provide assessments, de-escalation strategies, and can connect individuals to appropriate services. The goal of the MCRTs is to respond to urgent and emergency calls in the community when appropriate for a clinician-only response. MCRT provides a non-law enforcement intervention for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis and connects them to the most appropriate level of behavioral healthcare. The desired outcome is to mitigate the crisis at the point of contact in the field, and to connect the client to ongoing supportive services designed to reduce the need for high-acuity level care and the increased cost associated with those services. MCRTs provide a response that is appropriate and respectful of community and individual needs.