Behavioral health mobile crisis response (MCRT) teams_ - the mobile crisis response team (MCRT) program provides non-law enforcement, clinician-led, community-based crisis response across the entire…

Behavioral health mobile crisis response (MCRT) teams_ - the mobile crisis response team (MCRT) program provides non-law enforcement, clinician-led, community-based crisis response across the entire SAN diego county region for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The goal of the MCRT program is to respond to urgent and emergency calls in the community when calls are deemed appropriate for a clinician-only response. This grant will provide critical resources to meet the ongoing community need for a non-law enforcement response option for individuals in behavioral health crisis. The program teams, comprised of licensed mental health clinicians, case managers, and peer support specialists, divert individuals experiencing a crisis from unnecessary law enforcement involvement by instead stabilizing the client in the field and, if appropriate, connecting the client to the right level of behavioral health care. The most frequently occurring diagnoses among MCRT clients are schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder, and depressive disorders. MCRT clients benefit greatly from making a connection with a clinician and establishing or reestablishing a connection with ongoing behavioral health care. Services provide a non-law enforcement response in a manner that is responsive to and respectful of community and individual needs.