Mental illness touches more homes than most people expect. More than one in five U.S. adults had a mental health condition in 2024 alone.[1] Many Virginians never plan for the moment when a loved one’s mental health takes a turn for the worse. Then it happens, and the nearest emergency room can feel like the only available option.Â
However, an emergency room isn’t always the only choice. Fortunately, Virginia has built a system known as mobile crisis services, which offers an alternative to an ER waiting room for many of these moments.
To help you understand these services, this guide explores:
Mobile crisis services in Virginia include a coordinated statewide system that connects 988, local Community Services Boards (CSBs), regional crisis call centers, and trained mobile response teams. These services help coordinate an appropriate response, including sending a trained crisis response team directly to the crisis site. Law enforcement can also be involved when circumstances require it.
The mobile crisis services Virginia families rely on are built on an essential idea: a mental health crisis deserves the same urgency as a medical one. Mobile Crisis Response (MCR) is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round. It begins with assessment and de-escalation as soon as the team arrives.[2]Â
Whether the crisis occurs at home, at work, or somewhere in between, a mobile crisis team can bring trained behavioral health professionals directly to the person. This may help people avoid unnecessary emergency department visits. However, certain situations still require emergency medical attention or hospital-based care.
This is a state requirement, not simply a patchwork of local pilot programs. It’s built into STEP-VA, Virginia’s initiative to standardize behavioral health access across all 40 Community Services Boards (CSBs).[3]Â
Every CSB region must offer 24/7 crisis hotlines, mobile crisis response teams, and crisis assessment and stabilization services. Behind the scenes, these teams are coordinated through Virginia Crisis Connect, a shared platform linking crisis call centers, mobile dispatch, and regional data across the Commonwealth.[4]Â
For families working with a mobile mental health crisis team for the first time, that coordination makes a real difference. This shared system can make it easier to connect someone with appropriate services for assessment, referral, and any needed follow-up.
Many regions also offer community-based stabilization. This is a short-term follow-up service that keeps someone connected to support in the days after a mobile crisis team’s initial visit. It can work as a step down from a higher level of care, or as a way to prevent needing a higher care level.[2]
Two elements do most of the work in coordinating crisis care:Â
Crisis intervention services that Virginia agencies provide have changed substantially since the passage of the Marcus-David Peters Act, commonly known as Marcus Alert. It’s a set of statewide protocols for setting off an appropriate response to a behavioral health crisis and diverting people to treatment whenever feasible.[5]Â
The law is named for a young teacher killed by police during a mental health crisis in 2018. It requires 988 regional crisis call centers, law enforcement, and behavioral health agencies to work together, so police aren’t the default response to every behavioral health call.[6]Â
The goal isn’t to remove law enforcement from crisis response entirely. Instead, the framework aims to shift the primary response to qualified behavioral health professionals. Police can still be involved in a supporting role, when needed, such as situations in which public safety is a concern.[7]
By law, every part of Virginia is expected to have a Marcus Alert system in place by no later than July 1, 2028. That system is built around a community care or mobile crisis team.[5] Programs are already active in places like Danville and Pittsylvania County, where behavioral health professionals now respond alongside officers on qualifying calls.[8]
Access to a mobile crisis team typically starts with a phone call, though the exact path can vary depending on where someone lives in Virginia. Callers reaching 988 or a local CSB’s emergency line are asked a short series of questions to determine how urgent the situation is.Â
A shared framework helps coordinate the response between 911, 988, and local agencies. It also handles sending a Virginia mobile crisis team when that’s the right level of care.[6] Knowing this exists ahead of time can make a call for emergency mental health help feel far less intimidating when it happens.
In 2024, Virginia mental health crisis services connected an average of 10,185 people each month through 988 alone, with June reaching nearly 13,000 contacts.[9] That volume reflects a broader national pattern. 988 has fielded more than 23 million calls, texts, and chats nationwide since its 2022 launch.[10]
Once a mobile crisis services team has been dispatched, here’s what a mental health crisis response looks like:
Virginia’s standard generally expects Mobile Crisis Response teams to arrive in person within about one hour in urban areas and two hours in rural ones. DBHDS models this after how an ambulance responds to a medical emergency.[11] Once on the scene, the team’s purpose is to de-escalate the crisis and help prevent symptoms from getting worse.[12]
From there, a mobile crisis assessment gathers information from the person in crisis. Whenever possible, the process involves family, peer, or other supports present in that person’s life.[12] The responding clinician can build rapport with the person, offer counseling in the moment, and, if needed, arrange transportation to a psychiatric facility rather than a general ER.[13]Â
But as one crisis responder has noted, family members often don’t know that a mobile team is even an option for situations like this. Instead, they default to calling 911 out of habit.[13]
Safety planning is the final step in most encounters. Virginia’s model allows a team to stay engaged, offering direct intervention, care coordination, and other follow-up support for up to 72 hours after the initial call to dispatch.[11] Whatever the outcome, be that stabilization, referral to outpatient care, or a higher level of support, care coordination continues to connect the person to services and resources in the community.[12]
AMFM is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
The case for a mobile crisis assessment is backed by a growing body of outcomes data. National guidelines identify mobile crisis teams as one of three essential elements of a well-functioning crisis system, and higher-performing programs report that roughly 70 percent of engagements end in community stabilization rather than a facility placement.[14] That statistic counts for a lot because it means most mental health crises, even serious ones, can be resolved somewhere other than a hospital bed.
Research backs this up further. National studies on mobile crisis models, the same kind of model behind crisis response services Virginia has devised, consistently show these teams are effective at diverting people from unnecessary psychiatric hospitalization. They’re also effective for connecting suicidal individuals discharged from the ER to follow-up care.[15]Â
Cost is important, too. One analysis found that mobile crisis intervention reduced hospitalization-related costs by roughly 79 percent over a six-month follow-up period. Broader reviews link these programs to fewer unnecessary emergency department visits and admissions overall, though results vary by study.[15][16]
Despite their effectiveness, Virginia crisis services are facing new funding pressure. The budget that took effect this year in Virginia ends Medicaid reimbursement for community stabilization services. The move is subject to federal approval and would shorten the Medicaid-covered window for mobile crisis response from eight hours per incident to only four.[17]Â
One regional crisis official has warned the change could push more people to already-strained Community Services Boards and, in some cases, back to hospitalization instead of away from it.[17] None of this replaces long-term treatment for mental health conditions. It’s a bridge to it, a way of keeping someone safe and connected to care during the hours they need it the most.
Take a tour of our residential mental health facilities located in Virginia. Our locations offer peace & comfort within a residential environment where you can relax and focus on yourself.
Additionally, we offer both in-person and virtual outpatient services in Virginia so you can be supported after leaving residential.
The mobile crisis services Virginia has invested in are designed for the acute moment: the call, the de-escalation, and the safety plan. A mental health crisis is rarely the end of the story. More often, it’s a signal that more consistent support could help.Â
While mobile crisis services in Virginia aren’t designed to provide sustained, structured care, there are other forms of mental health treatment available that can help a person process what led to the crisis, create or adjust their treatment plan, or build skills to prevent the next crisis.
At AMFM Mental Health Treatment, we offer an intimate, focused mental health treatment experience for adults in home-like settings that are carefully maintained to be peaceful, comfortable spaces. In addition to residential treatment, we also offer multiple levels of outpatient treatment.
Our team of expert clinicians believes in treatment persistence and will personalize your treatment plan so you can achieve lasting, life-changing outcomes. Our locations in Virginia accept insurance and are in-network with many major providers. To check your insurance coverage for mental health care, simply complete our confidential online verification form.
Call us at 866-478-4383 if you would like to start the admissions process or learn more about how we can support your mental well-being. Our compassionate team is available 24/7 to answer your questions and provide guidance with no obligation.
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At AMFM, we strive to provide the most up-to-date and accurate medical information based on current best practices, evolving information, and our team’s approach to care. Our aim is that our readers can make informed decisions about their healthcare.
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