Deschutes County’s mobile crisis team says it has seen signs of success since getting referrals directly from 911 dispatch.
The team made the change in May so that it can respond to behavioral health crises without law enforcement present. Before that, the team could not go to calls without police presence.
“And so I think we’re at the cutting edge of that where, you know, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, we’re going to be looking back on it and saying, ‘How the heck did we ever do this without this system?'” said Adam Goggins, program manager of behavioral services.
The behavioral health team says it has been able to resolve 88% of the calls it has received.
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