When an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis, being able to provide crisis intervention services in the community is key. Wyandot BHN is currently working to expand its mobile crisis response program and recent grant funding from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) will allow us to move toward expansion to a 24/7 mobile crisis response model.
Wyandot BHN’s mobile crisis response team is currently staffed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. When someone experiences a mental health crisis and over-the-phone support is not sufficient to resolve the crisis, the team mobilizes to meet the client where they are to de-escalate the situation, provide crisis intervention, develop a safety plan and refer the individual to the appropriate level of care.
By responding to mental health crises in the community, the mobile crisis response team gives individuals in crisis the opportunity to work through the crisis in an environment that feels more familiar to them. Mobile crisis responders work with the individual to de-escalate, identify triggers, learn coping skills and self-regulate. In many cases, this allows an individual to access the care and resources needed to remain safely in the community, thus avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations and/or being incarcerated for mental health concerns. The mobile crisis response team is able to respond to mental health crises in the community without law enforcement in most situations, freeing up law enforcement resources to respond to other emergencies.
"Mobile Crisis Response allows us to provide a more trauma-informed response to those in crisis by being able to safely respond to them in the community without requiring them to come to a facility setting, many times by way of a police officer or EMS,” says Christine Swenson, Senior Vice President for Clinical Services. “We are appreciative to the state for their support in continuing this program and allowing us to grow it to a 24/7 support."