Launch of Mobile Crisis Teams delayed
Officials cite lack of suitable master’s level social workers
Top officials from the city of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County told reporters this past October that they were a month away from having Mobile Crisis Teams ready to respond to 911 calls involving people experiencing behavioral health crises.
That time frame has come and gone, and there are still no Mobile Crisis Teams on the streets.
“We were hoping for a November launch and now the rollout looks like it’s going to be happening in mid-January due to a couple of factors,” said Breanna Anderson, a spokeswoman for Bernalillo County’s Behavioral Health Initiative.
Chief among the obstacles encountered has been difficulty in finding independently licensed, master’s level social workers and counselors to staff the teams.
“We didn’t want to lower the standards,”
Anderson said. “We want to make sure we have qualified clinicians. They are going to be so pivotal with those teams.”
The Mobile Crisis Teams, part of the county’s Behavioral Health Initiative, will attempt to de-escalate situations involving people experiencing, or at the risk of experiencing, a behavioral health crisis. The program is aimed at improving outcomes of 911 calls.
Teams will be formed by pairing master’s level social workers and counselors with Albuquerque police officers and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies. City and county officials have called the Mobile Crisis Teams a significant step forward in the effort to address gaps in behavioral health services in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.
St. Martin’s Hope Works — the nonprofit working with the county and city on the initiative — has been trying to hire five clinicians for the teams. The Journal was unable to reach Nevin Marquez, St. Martin’s behavioral health services director, for comment Tuesday afternoon, but Anderson said St. Martin’s has been struggling to fill the positions.
“We’ve encountered a bit of a workforce issue,” Anderson said. “We’re hoping those clinicians are out there and just haven’t come to us yet.”
She said, so far, one of the five positions has been filled and another is in the process of being filled.
Once those clinicians are hired, they are required to undergo 40 hours of crisis intervention training and an additional eight hours of enhanced training, Anderson said. She added that they will then receive on-the-job training.
Anderson said the county is also awaiting final approval on a contract from the city.
“We’re putting the final touches on the contract and working with the new administration,” she said. “We plan to have that contract activated soon so they can roll out the teams in mid-January.”
Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s office hadn’t responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Local officials have pointed to the death of James Boyd and other tragic encounters between law enforcement and people suffering from mental illness when discussing why crisis intervention teams are needed here. Boyd, a homeless man with schizophrenia, was shot and killed by Albuquerque police in the Sandia foothills in March 2014. The shooting was captured on camera and led to protests.
City and county officials have said a significant benefit of Mobile Crisis Teams is that they will connect people in need with a behavioral health professional in their own homes. Besides providing on-scene crisis services, the behavioral health professional will make referrals and provide follow-up services for individuals and families.
Mobile Crisis Teams are a pilot program. The city and county are splitting the $500,000 contract.
Additional funding from the county’s behavioral health gross receipts tax supported by 69 percent of voters in a nonbinding ballot question in 2014 will be available to continue and expand the program, depending on results.
“Obviously, we’re pioneering new territory here with the Behavioral Health Initiative,” Anderson said. “… Mobile Crisis Teams are an innovation. We’re building an entire program from the ground up.”
She said it’s important that qualified people are hired to fill the clinician positions on the Mobile Crisis Teams.
“If we were to rush this or sacrifice our standards, it would be a complete disservice to the community,” Anderson said.