Montgomery county community behavioral health diversion initiative - montgomery county, pennsylvania, proposes to implement the early diversion program and crisis center to divert adults…

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded County Montgomery $641,186 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to implement an Early Diversion Program and Crisis Center that diverts adults experiencing behavioral health crises from criminal justice involvement prior to arrest or booking.

The recipient will deliver crisis intervention, stabilization, treatment engagement, and recovery support services centered on Montgomery County's Emergency Behavioral Health Center, scheduled to open in December 2026. The project targets adults who come to law enforcement attention during behavioral health crises presenting with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, serious mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, with focus on individuals at elevated risk of repeated crisis-system involvement. Participants are expected to experience serious mental illness, co-occurring disorders, housing instability, transportation barriers, and limited social supports. The project will serve an estimated 200 unduplicated individuals in Year 1, increasing to 230 in Year 2, 260 in Year 3, 290 in Year 4, and 320 in Year 5, for a total of 1,300 individuals over the five-year performance period.

Performance occurs in East Norriton Township, Pennsylvania. The award period runs through September 29, 2031. The project builds upon Montgomery County's established behavioral health, crisis response, and diversion infrastructure, including mobile crisis services and 988.

Montgomery county community behavioral health diversion initiative - montgomery county, pennsylvania, proposes to implement the early diversion program and crisis center to divert adults experiencing behavioral health crises from deeper criminal justice involvement prior to arrest or booking. Through coordinated crisis intervention, stabilization, treatment engagement, and recovery support services, the project will connect high-risk adults who present with behavioral health crises, including mental health (MH), substance use disorder (SUD), serious mental illness (SMI) and CO-occurring mental health and substance US disorders (COD) to community-based care. The project strengthens public safety while reducing repeated crisis-system involvement and improving access to treatment and recovery supports. This initiative is centered on montgomery county's new emergency behavioral health center (ebhc), scheduled to open in december 2026. Montgomery county (montco), with a population of approximately 861,000, is located in southeastern pennsylvania and includes urban, suburban, and rural communities. The project will serve adults who come to the attention of law enforcement (LE) during a behavioral health (BH) crisis and are transported for crisis evaluation, with a focus on individuals at elevated risk of repeated crisis-system involvement and deeper criminal justice (CJ) involvement. Participants are expected to experience SMI, COD, housing instability, transportation barriers, limited social supports, and other factors that interfere with sustained treatment engagement and recovery. The project will serve an estimated 200 unduplicated individuals in year 1, increasing annually to 230 in year 2, 260 in year 3, 290 in year 4, and 320 in year 5, for a total of 1,300 individuals over the five-year project period. The project builds upon montco's established BH, crisis response, and diversion infrastructure, including mobile crisis services, 988, community behavioral health centers (cbhcs), recovery supports, treatment courts, the montco model, and the new ebhc. Project activities include: community system mapping, development and annual updating of an early diversion plan, expansion of diversion-focused BH services, coordination of BH and social-service supports, diversion training for community partners, operation of a multidisciplinary early diversion coalition, and long-term sustainability planning. Through partnerships with connections health solutions, cbhcs, LE agencies, crisis providers, and county BH leadership, participants will receive crisis assessment, stabilization, treatment linkage, care coordination and recovery-support services. Project goals are to: (1) divert individuals experiencing BH crises from deeper CJ involvement prior to arrest or booking; (2) reduce repeat crisis-system and CJ involvement through treatment engagement, care coordination, and recovery support; and (3) strengthen coordination and sustainability across montco's BH, crisis-response, LE, and community-service systems. Measurable objectives include increasing the annual number of individuals receiving early diversion services, increasing crisis assessment, stabilization, referral, and linkage to community-based treatment and supports, improving treatment engagement and retention, and maintaining a countywide coalition that supports diversion planning, implementation, quality improvement, and sustainability.