Project Summary: Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) seeks to partner with five community care behavioral health organizations (CCBHOs) – ReDiscover, Swope Health, University Health Behavioral Health, Burrell Behavioral Health, and Tri-County Mental Health Services – to enhance existing mobile crisis response teams in a unified, coordinated effort across four counties in the greater Kansas City region in northwest Missouri. MARC and its CCBHO partners will enhance existing mobile crisis response teams through the development and implementation of a standardized crisis response system in alignment with ongoing state efforts. This innovative project will be the region’s first-ever coordinated, cross-county partnership addressing mobile crisis through a unified effort. The overall goal is to achieve equity in service delivery, such that everyone in the catchment area will receive the same quality of services, regardless of demographics, location, time, or presenting issue.
Population to be Served: The project service area includes Clay, Jackson, Platte, and Ray counties in Missouri, with a combined total population of 1,062,289 residents. While the overall ethnic composition of the four-county area is mostly White, over 23% of Jackson County residents are Black and 9% are Hispanic/Latinx. Roughly 6% to 7% of residents in Clay and Platte counties are Hispanic/Latinx. In all counties, the rate of children living below federal poverty level is higher than that of all individuals. Thirteen percent of Jackson County residents are uninsured, followed by 12% in Ray County, 11% in Clay County, and 9% in Platte County.
Strategies/Interventions: This project will enhance and expand the availability of mobile crisis response services in the Kansas City, Missouri area, primarily through coordinated policies and practices; implementation of crisis staff trainings, including evidence-based practices; data coordination and data-sharing policies and protocols; and ongoing evaluation through regular meetings, data-sharing, and community crisis intercept mapping. The CCBHOs will enhance existing mobile crisis teams by developing a collaborative model to achieve 24/7 coverage, improve staff safety through safety gear/technology and staff trainings, and participating in work groups with other CCBHOs and technical advisors (e.g., law enforcement, emergency services, etc.) to examine current practices and develop standards for response and follow-up.
Goals and Objectives: MARC and its partners seek to achieve health equity though quality and consistency of mobile crisis response across the geographic. In response to regional needs, MARC and its partners propose the following goals: first, to expand mobile crisis coverage to meet the increased regional demand for mobile crisis services by (1) increasing the number of individuals served through mobile crisis, (2) increasing the overall utilization of mobile crisis response in the geographic area, and (3) increasing the availability of 24/7 mobile crisis services across the catchment area. Second, the project team will implement staff trainings and safety measures to improve the fidelity of services and staff retention by (1) providing crisis response and cultural competency trainings to staff members and first responders, (2) increasing mobile crisis response staff retention, and (3) decreasing the average mobile crisis response time. Third, the project will enhance communication and data collection and sharing with other agencies to improve response and to establish collaborative post-crisis follow-up protocols. The team will accomplish this by (1) increasing the number of individuals receiving a warm handoff to partner agencies for continued treatment, (2) increasing the number of follow-up contacts made within 72 hours, and (3) establishing post-crisis follow-up protocols across all CCBHOs.