County elected officials can support community members during a behavioral health emergency by increasing access to services such as crisis triage centers. These centers offer residents a physical location to access stabilization, treatment and connections to community-based services. By increasing access to crisis triage centers, counties can serve the needs of community members with behavioral health conditions, reserve emergency departments and law enforcement officers for other priorities and direct resources to improve community well-being.

County elected officials can assist by:

  • Determining the need, through resource and process mapping to understand if a crisis triage center is appropriate
  • Ensuring collaboration across county agencies and community partners to best serve residents through integrated care, and
  • Securing funding from federal, state, local and private sources to develop a center and sustain operations.

 

Related News

Image of GettyImages-1397838530.jpg
Advocacy

U.S. House reintroduces legislation to address the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy

Two bipartisan bills aimed at addressing the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy (MIEP) were recently reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Medicines in hand
Advocacy

House E&C Committee advances SUPPORT Act reauthorization

On April 9, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee marked up the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025. The bipartisan bill aims to reauthorize critical programs that target overdose prevention amid the renewal of the opioid crisis Public Health Emergency declaration.

birdflu
County News

Bird flu update: What county leaders should know

As of April 7, there have been 70 confirmed cases of bird flu in the United States, but no person-to-person spread has been detected. 

Crews remove ladder fuels at Land Trust of Napa County’s Linda Falls Preserve in Angwin, CA. Photo by Mike Palladini – Land Trust of Napa County.
Advocacy

FEMA halts disaster mitigation grant program

On April 4, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced it will not allocate $750 million this year for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program. According to the press release, FEMA will also stop funding BRIC projects that were previously approved and are still underway.

A job board at a Riverside County, Calif. day reporting center keeps participants aware of opportunities.
County News

Counties support youth with a second chance opportunity

A Riverside County, Calif. supervisor took experiences from his former life as a teacher to help create a program that serves students who had gone the juvenile justice system and were looking for a second chance.

CARES Act
Advocacy

HHS issues termination notices for health grant funding

On March 25, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent letters to state authorities and counties with direct grant funding announcing the immediate termination of several pandemic-related grants, which was previously set to run through September 2025.