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Explore California’s Commitment to Rapid Behavioral Health Support
Crisis Care Mobile Units (CCMU) are a vital part of a comprehensive system designed to provide swift, on-location aid to individuals facing behavioral health crises. Equipped with modified SUVs or vans, these units deliver urgent care for mental health, substance-related issues, suicide risk, and more. If stabilization isn’t possible on-site, individuals can be transported to Crisis Stabilization Facilities for further support. To enhance access and strengthen the overall crisis care system, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has allocated over $202 million to bolster mobile crisis response teams across the state.
Part of a wider system of care, Crisis Care Mobile Units (CCMU) are a means of providing rapid, on-location aid to individuals experiencing behavioral health crisis. In an ideal system, a crisis care system is formed through collaboration between various organizations and systems that work together to help individuals in crisis. Initial requests for care come from a wide variety of sources that are routed to a crisis response center. These call centers serve as an entry point for crisis referrals and proceed to dispatch the necessary emergency response to the individual in crisis.
CCMU are an effective resource for responding to the needs of individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Typically equipped with modified SUVs or passenger vans, these mobile units are able to provide urgent on-site, urgent care for individuals experiencing mental health, substance-related, suicide, and other issues. If CCMU responders are unable to stabilize individuals in crisis within the community, CCMUs are able to transport individuals to Crisis Stabilization Facilities for additional support and care. In an effort to expand the access that California communities have to these resources and strengthen the Crisis Care System as a whole, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has awarded more than $202 million to 78 behavioral health authorities or Tribal entities in order produce or improve mobile crisis response teams in the state of California.
In August of 2021, DHCS released a Request for Applications (RFA) for the CCMU program. The goal of this program was to offer funding for grantees to plan, implement, or expand behavioral health Crisis Care Mobile Units. Starting in January 2022 and continuing to the present, the DHCS (CCMU) program continues to equip communities in California with behavioral health resources that improve health outcomes and decrease unnecessary use of jails and emergency services. Aided by the state government’s efforts to expand these programs, CCMUs have received over 30,000 service requests in the most recent quarter (Jan 1st to March 29th, 2024). Along with supporting counties and cities.
In 2022, when the CCMU program was launched, there were two tracks through which organizations could receive funding. For communities with existing CCMU programs, grantees were able to receive funding to support and expand their ongoing operations in what was known as an Implementation Grant. Communities without preexisting programs could apply for funding to conduct a needs assessment and develop an action plan to address the need for mobile crisis and non-crisis programs. Over the course of this funding, all grantees who received funding to plan for Crisis Care Mobile Units have been able to put those plans into action and currently run active CCMU programs that receive implementation support through this funding.
In 2022, when the CCMU program was launched, there were two tracks through which organizations could receive funding. For communities with existing CCMU programs, grantees were able to receive funding to support and expand their ongoing operations in what was known as an Implementation Grant. Communities without preexisting programs could apply for funding to conduct a needs assessment and develop an action plan to address the need for mobile crisis and non-crisis programs. Over the course of this funding, all grantees who received funding to plan for Crisis Care Mobile Units have been able to put those plans into action and currently run active CCMU programs that receive implementation support through this funding.
Since the CCMU program launched in 2022, crisis care services have increased dramatically in the state of California, as has the demand for such services. In turn, not only are more community members receiving urgent onsite behavioral healthcare but are also being treated within their communities at a higher rate than ever before.
While the request for services has increased over the course of the project, grantees have continued to provide timely responses, with a majority of their response times for dispatch and services taking under one hour. Roughly 15-24% of the response times are between one and two hours.
In many instances, the CCMU teams are not only able to provide needed services, but also resolve the service encounter by stabilizing the individual in the community and providing a warm handoff to behavioral health or medical. From Quarter 5 to Quarter 7, the number of individuals who were stabilized and provided a warm handoff increased dramatically, by nearly 3,000, or 171%.
Another possible resolution for service encounters is for the individual to be detained on a 5150/5585 hold. While this is not the ideal resolution for service encounters, it can be a necessary resolution
In January of 2023, DHCS released an RFA open solely to California tribal entities. The RFA offered up to $1,000,000 in funding for vehicles and vehicle-related expenses for use in delivering behavioral health crisis and non-crisis services. Applicants could request multiple vehicles in a single application. Vehicles were required to be used for the exclusive purpose of delivering, or facilitating access to, behavioral health mobile crisis and non-crisis prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, including culturally relevant healing practices and services. Twenty tribal entities received support and the number of vehicles available to CCMUs increased as did the number of individuals being served every quarter starting in quarter 8.
The CCMU program continues to address the behavioral health needs of communities throughout California. Not only have CCMU teams been able to deliver essential services, but they have been extremely successful in stabilizing individuals within the community and conducting a warm handoff to relevant medical or behavioral service providers. As the CCMU program partners with Tribal entities and expands to additional counties, it is our hope to increase the availability of crisis resolution services to as many communities as possible in the State of California.
Note: Quarter 5 is from 10/1/2022 to 12/31/2022, Quarter 6 is from 1/1/2023 to 3/31/2023, Quarter 7 is from 4/1/2023 to 6/30/2023, Quarter 8 is from 7/1/2023 to 9/30/2023, Quarter 9 is from 10/1/2023 to 12/31/2023, and Quarter 10 is from 1/1/2024 to 3/31/2024.
