Our city needs to fund and implement a comprehensive mobile crisis team infrastructure that will provide 24/7, swift behavioral health emergency response when a Philadelphian dials 911

We were heartened last year when the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services (DBHIDS) moved to pilot an expansion of Philadelphia’s existing mobile crisis units in response to community demands for a non-police response to mental health crises after the tragic murder of Walter Wallace Jr. by Philadelphia police officers. We celebrated the $7.2 million budget increase to fund additional mobile crisis teams, as well as efforts to have 911 calls diverted to these teams.

However, the expansion of the mobile crisis units is rolling out far too slowly. Teams are still slowly being staffed and trained. While Mayor Kenney’s FY2023 budget proposal does technically increase funding for mobile crisis, the funding increase will only pay for a roll out of the mobile crisis pilot program that was approved last year. Mobile crisis must have citywide reach. All of our neighborhoods must have access to trauma informed mental health crisis response around the clock.

We demand a fully funded program that will operate across the city 24/7.

While civilian mobile crisis expansion is languishing, Crisis Intervention Response Teams (CIRT), otherwise known as police co-responders, continues to move forward. We know that non-police responders do a better job of handling mental health crises than do police or teams of police and mental health professionals and non-police mobile crisis is the preferred standard of care. Philadelphia must prioritize mobile crisis expansion and adequately fund this crucial resource.

At a minimum, mobile crisis expansion should include the following:

24/7 access. Mobile crisis teams should be available day and night, like the expected 24/7 response from police, fire, and paramedics.

Dispatched via 911. Dispatchers should receive an updated script and more training to direct calls that do not require a police response to mobile crisis teams.

Emphasis on being separate from police. Calling the police must be a last resort, not the default for a difficult situation.

Transportation. If the crisis situation requires transport, the person in crisis must be transported safely and with dignity–not in the back of a police vehicle.

Additionally, mobile crisis jobs should be good paying, sustainable work.

In order to accomplish those goals, Philadelphia will need far more than the four teams of the pilot program. It’s time for our city to be a champion for those who experience mental health crises and for Philadelphia to become a national leader for what robust mobile crisis response can look like.