RVA mobile crisis team - the richmond behavioral health authority (rbha) located in richmond, VA is requesting funding to enhance and expand our mobile crisis team response services using a…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Mental Health Services awarded $750,000 to the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to enhance and expand mobile crisis team response services in Richmond, Virginia.

The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority will deploy a specialized team of clinicians and peer specialists working collaboratively with the public safety system to identify, respond to, and provide follow-up services to individuals in crisis, with emphasis on improving continuity of care and referral to community resources. The target population is individuals with mental health disorders and possible co-occurring substance use disorders experiencing crisis situations in Richmond. Specific strategies include enhanced and expanded mobile crisis team services, embedding a clinician in the public safety answering point (PSAP), executing warm hand-offs to needed services, training law enforcement, and conducting crisis system planning efforts. Primary goals are to improve clinical outcomes and crisis response systems, divert individuals from costly and restrictive services, establish internal protocols for service evaluation and improvement, and build community partnerships and training capabilities.

Performance will occur in Richmond, Virginia from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2030.

RVA mobile crisis team - the richmond behavioral health authority (rbha) located in richmond, VA is requesting funding to enhance and expand our mobile crisis team response services using a specialized team of clinicians and peers working in collaboration with the public safety system to identify and respond to high-risk individuals. The project will provide services to individuals in crisis situations, or as follow-up to services in an effort to improved continuity of care and referral to appropriate community resources for continued support. The target population is individuals with mental health disorders with possible CO-occurring substance use disorder. For this proposed project, the population of focus is those individuals in richmond experiencing behavioral health disorders and in need of crisis services demographically, richmond is an urban locale; 47.4% male and 52.6% female. The median age is 35; 17.5% of richmonders are under 18 years old and 14.8% are over 65 years old. Regarding socioeconomic status, 18% of individuals living in richmond are below the federal poverty line; 31% of this group are under 18. The city has been affected, like many other areas, by the opioid epidemic as well as in need of an improved crisis response system. Strategies and interventions will include enhanced and expanded mobile crisis team services, a psap-embedded clinician, warm hand-offs to needed services, training of law enforcement, and crisis system planning efforts. Main goals are to: improve clinical outcomes; improve crisis response systems; divert individuals from costly and restrictive services; establish internal protocols for service evaluation and improvement; and establish community partnerships and training.