Communities across the United States increasingly rely on mobile crisis outreach teams to handle mental health emergencies as an alternative to calling police.
Summit and Wasatch counties share the same MCOT, according to Summit County Behavioral Health Director Aaron Newman.
“Earlier this month we were able to bring on enough clinicians to where now we operate full 24/7, including all holidays,” Newman told KPCW. “When we get this program up and running in 2021 that was always a difficult component for us.”
He said the biggest gap was on Saturdays.
The Kimball Junction-based MCOT sends two or three people to calls in Summit or Wasatch counties: a licensed clinical social worker, a peer support specialist and sometimes a psychiatrist.
Although MCOT’s goal is to avert trips to the emergency room or jail, often they’re responding in tandem with Wasatch Back law enforcement.
Newman said about 90% of Summit County sheriff’s deputies and Park City police are trained to recognize and appropriately respond to mental health crises.
“The majority of people that MCOT interacts with are able to remain in place,” he said, as opposed to being arrested or taken to a medical facility. “And a typical call out can be anywhere between 30 minutes to five hours.”
Residents can reach MCOT through either 911 or the national mental health hotline 988.
Newman said the local mobile crisis outreach team averages 30 to 40 calls per month, with most coming in the spring once temperatures are warmer.
The Summit County Department of Health is a financial supporter of KPCW.