988 Crisis Systems Response: Mobile Crisis Response: Evidence-Based Models & Co-Responder Approaches

This second webinar builds on the mobile crisis foundations introduced in Webinar 1 by examining how communities structure the “someone to respond” component of a coordinated behavioral health crisis continuum. The session reviews behavioral health-led mobile crisis teams, co-responder approaches, peer models, and hybrid or regional adaptations comparing their purposes, strengths, limitations, and appropriate use cases.  Discussion will address the contextual factors that shape model selection, which may include dispatch and triage, safety, law enforcement backup thresholds, community trust, workforce capacity, geography, and local infrastructure. This webinar emphasizes that co-response is one option within a broader crisis continuum, and that model selection should reflect community needs, local risk, available resources, and connections with 988, 911/dispatch, crisis stabilization, follow-up care, and community-based supports.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish key features and purposes of behavioral health-led mobile crisis teams, co-responder approaches, peer models, and other hybrid or regional adaptations.
• Compare these models’ benefits, limitations, appropriate use cases, including safety considerations.
• Identify how local factors such as dispatch and triage practices, workforce capacity, geography, and system resources shape which model fits a given community.

Speakers:

• Joy Bell, Director of Office of Mental Health Justice Programs, Georgia Department Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities

The Crisis Systems Response Training and Technical Assistance Center (CSR-TTAC) provides support to States, Territories, Tribal organizations, and community partners across the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline network and behavioral health crisis continuum of care. The goal of the CSR-TTAC is to support a crisis care system that is integrated, sustainable, fair, and aligned around evidence-based and evidenced-informed practices.