Centerstone's Community Crisis Response Partnerships in Florida (C-CCRP) project will enhance infrastructure to expand mobile crisis response teams (MCRT) to provide culturally, developmentally, and age-appropriate services to divert individuals experiencing mental health crises from law enforcement encounters in a high need geographic area comprising DeSoto and Manatee counties, Florida. C-CCRP will serve 1,050 unduplicated individuals (Y1: 150; Y2-4: 300/yr.).
C-CCRP will serve adults, children, and youth experiencing mental health crises in DeSoto and Manatee counties, Florida, where up to 38% of the 387,000+ calls to law enforcement were related to behavioral health issues. In 2021, only 5% of area law enforcement officers received CIT training. Focus population demographics are expected to mirror those of the geographic catchment area, which comprises 82% adults and 18% children/youth; 49% male and 51% female, including 0.55% transgender individuals; and 70% White, 9% Black/African American, and 18% Hispanic/Latino individuals. Prevalent mental health, substance use, and socioeconomic risk factors for behavioral health crisis point to a need to implement effective mobile crisis services. For example, of the catchment area’s 352,050 adults, 21% are expected to have a mental illness. Approximately 12% of area youth ages 12-17 have had serious thoughts of suicide. Mental health/substance use related hospitalizations in Manatee were 56% higher than the state, and DeSoto exceeded Florida in non-fatal suicide attempts by 122%.
C-CCRP will increase the capacity of and timely access to 24/7 MCRTs, increase collaboration with law enforcement/988/call centers, and improve equity in the continuity of care and post-crisis follow-up. C-CCRP’s 2-person MCRTs will provide in-person/telehealth response including screening/ assessment; community stabilization; safety planning; referral to enhanced services after stabilization; and post-crisis follow-up. C-CCRP will conduct community mapping to identify service needs/gaps, provide crisis intervention training, develop protocols to improve coordination with first responders and community providers, coordinate with relevant state efforts, and implement a data system to track outcomes. C-CCRP will accomplish the following goals: 1) Develop a sound infrastructure and increased capacity to deliver mobile crisis response services for persons of all ages in the geographic catchment area; 2) Increase crisis system collaboration within the proposed high-needs communities to ensure a comprehensive, integrated services to address the focus populations’ needs; 3) Enhance mobile crisis response teams to ensure trauma-informed and culturally, age, and developmentally appropriate services to divert adults, children, and youth experiencing mental health crises from law enforcement to community stabilization; 4) Improve crisis system performance via expanded access to mobile crisis response services in proposed high-need communities; 5) Promote improved mental health outcomes among adults, children, and youth experiencing mental health crises; and 6) Develop/disseminate a documented service model for statewide and national replication/adoption. As a result of these goals/improvements, the project will achieve the following measurable objectives among populations receiving crisis response: Screen 100%, refer 100% to needed services, increase access to services for 60%, reduce suicide risk for 100%, and reduce arrest/detention by 30%. The project will achieve the following measurable objectives in the high needs community served: Resolve 70% of MCRT responses in the community, divert 40% from law enforcement, increase referrals to MCRT by 50%; and increase knowledge of effective crisis response among 60% of first responders trained.