Parents and families of people with mental illness are often alone and helpless when a mental health crisis occurs. Rapid mobile community mental health teams consisting of mental health professionals such as psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychologists, social workers, and behavioral health technicians and specially trained law enforcement officers could fill this gap by responding to the immediate crisis, to created a safe environment and refer mentally unstable people to psychiatric services.
Just as we now dial 911 for physical emergencies, a new number could be created nationally for mental health emergencies
Federal funding to launch this system is critical to fix our fragmented mental health system and prevent unnecessary violence.