SANTA CRUZ >> As part of a yearslong effort to bring behavioral health services to local residents anywhere, anytime, Santa Cruz County has officially launched its mobile response program.

The 24/7 service model on wheels known as Mobile Crisis Response Teams officially rolled out in December and will operate 365 days per year, with the ability to offer services in all five county jurisdictions and across diverse settings including parks, schools, faith-based institutions and more.

“Our Mobile Crisis Response Team is staffed with compassionate mental health professionals who understand the diverse needs of our Santa Cruz County community,” Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health Deputy Director Karen Kern said in a release. “With culturally responsive, bilingual services, our goal is to provide timely and empathetic support during crises, helping individuals feel safe and empowered to continue their care journey. This approach also helps reduce the number of emergency room visits and law enforcement interventions.”

Most services will begin with the dialing of 1-800-952-2335, the 24-hour mobile response crisis line launched in collaboration with Family Service Agency of the Central Coast. A trained call monitor will answer, assess the situation, determine if an individual is undergoing a behavioral health crisis and can even provide support and guidance such as de-escalation tips and resources. Once confirmed, a multidisciplinary crisis team of trained mental health professionals will be dispatched to the location to perform an on-site evaluation and eventually connect the individual with longer-term resources and care.The program workers will arrive with a specialized training tool belt that includes knowledge of trauma-informed care, substance use issues, work with diverse populations and navigation of legal and ethical issues including mandated reporting.

“Our Mobile Crisis Response Team stands ready to serve all in Santa Cruz County,” James Russell, director of access and crisis services at Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health. “Our partnership with Family Service Agency of the Central Coast has been instrumental in allowing us to swiftly respond and de-escalate mental health crises on a 24/7 basis.”

Though local health care leaders are excited about the program’s ability to meet the needs of community members literally where they are, it comes by way of a state mandate with roots dating back to the Mental Health Services Act passed by California voters in 2004.

The county’s mobile response was estimated last year to cost almost $5.2 million over three years and is funded through earmarked dollars within the Mental Health Services Act’s Innovation Project and grants from the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Act pilot program, Crisis Care Mobile Units and the California Health Facilities Financing Authority.

The county Board of Supervisors endorsed the plan last summer after receiving a presentation from Kern and her team, but expressed concerns about staffing. The board viewed the plan only weeks after a Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury report claimed the county’s issues managing behavioral health needs could be largely blamed on a lack of funding and staffing. At the time, Kern tried to reassure the supervisors that the behavioral health division was ready for the program, citing evidence that the agency was fully staffed and that the mobile response did not require hard-to-fill roles, such as a fully licensed clinician.

Other behavioral health programs and services expected to arrive in 2025 include a 16-bed inpatient facility in Live Oak for local youth in crisis, and the new Si Se Puede mental health and substance use center in Watsonville from Encompass Community Services.

The county’s Sobering Center in Santa Cruz, meant to divert publicly intoxicated people away from jails and emergency rooms, relaunched in February after a four-year hiatus.