In Flagstaff, mental health and social service providers have always believed that the best way to help the most people is to work together.
Our mantra, “there is no wrong door,” invites residents to access mental health services whenever and wherever they are, whether it’s at home, at a counselor’s office, the hospital, the police department or another location, through the Northern Arizona crisis hotline, 1-877-756-4090, operated by Solari Crisis and Human Services.
As a result, I’m proud to say we have one of the state’s most coordinated systems of care.
It is in that spirit of collaboration that Terros Health and the City of Flagstaff have formed an enhanced partnership for mobile crisis services. The partnership followed a competitive public bid in which the City of Flagstaff awarded our company a three-year contract to develop and employ an alternative response mobile unit, with unanimous support from the Flagstaff City Council.
The benefits of this partnership cannot be overstated.
Late last month, we launched the CARE (Community Alliance, Response, & Engagement) Unit. One of our behavioral health specialists along with a Flagstaff Fire emergency medical technician began working out of a specially equipped van to respond to 911 calls and proactively move throughout and outreach to the community.
Collaboration between Flagstaff and Terros Health is not new; our team has been providing mobile behavioral health crisis services in Flagstaff and the surrounding area for nearly six years and we respond to approximately 175 calls for help each month through the Northern Arizona crisis hotline that send us deep into the community.
What is new with this expanded partnership is the availability of a 911 response unit that includes behavioral health specialists who can engage with individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis in a customized and compassionate way, reducing the need for police involvement and emergency room visits. We are making it a priority to be trauma-informed and culturally sensitive.
As part of our work, we also will connect individuals to mental health, substance use and other resources in the community, and transport individuals to shelters, medical facilities, and other locations, when needed.
Alternative policing and mobile crisis models of care continue to be part of the national conversation and with good reason. The number of individuals with depression and other mental health conditions continues to grow. From Sept. 29 to Oct. 11 of 2021, 31.6% of adults in the United States reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder, up from 11% during the same period in 2019, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Arizona’s numbers were even higher: In 2021, 33% of adults had anxiety or a depressive disorder, the report showed. The problem is especially pronounced among youth: 17.4% of those between the ages of 12-17 reported a major depressive episode in the past year.
Kaiser Family Foundation also tracked substance use, which increased fivefold nationally from 2000 to 2020. At 18.4%, fatalities per 100,000 population, Arizona recorded 1,939 opioid deaths in 2020, accounting for 73% of all drug overdose deaths in the state.
Here in Flagstaff, the CARE Unit will respond to calls to 911 that do not necessitate a police presence but for which no other response resource currently exists. We think of this as a fourth type of unit — in addition to police, fire and EMS — that will be available through the 911 system to provide the best and most efficient response possible.
The good news is that this fourth unit will supplement, rather than reduce, existing 911 and police resources.
The unit will be active for approximately 10 hours per day, with plans to move to a 24/7 operation.
Collaboration with, and referral to, community partners will be crucial for the CARE Unit. We recently held two virtual forums to gather feedback from healthcare and social services agencies as well as individuals and that live and work within our Indigenous communities. Local agencies including The Guidance Center, Flagstaff Medical Center, Catholic Charities, Flagstaff Shelter Services, and Native Americans for Community Action (NACA) have expressed a desire to partner and coordinate with us in this new endeavor.