Mental health advocates and the Anchorage police and fire chiefs spoke with Anchorage Assembly members Monday afternoon about the merits and functions of the city’s mobile crisis team, as the assembly is set to vote on Mayor Dave Bronson’s proposed budget as soon as Tuesday night.
The Mobile Crisis Team, funded by Anchorage’s alcohol sales tax, began in July of this year as part of the Anchorage Fire Department. The team pairs a paramedic with a mental health clinician to respond to mental crisis calls, and check up on frequent users of the city’s emergency services.
It’s one part of a statewide effort to implement the Crisis Now model, which includes three components: a crisis call line, a mobile crisis team, and a 23-hour stabilization center.