SACRAMENTO — The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) today awarded more than $7.4 million to 24 California tribal organizations through the Crisis Care Mobile Units (CCMU) program to support tribal entities in expanding access to behavioral health crisis and non-crisis care by funding vehicles and vehicle-related costs. Grantees will use funds to assess the needs of mobile crisis and non-crisis programs in their region, implement a new CCMU program, or expand an existing CCMU program.
“This funding will allow tribal communities to offer culturally sensitive behavioral health mobile treatment and care, addressing the unique needs and experiences of individuals wherever they are, including at home, work, school, or in the community,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass.
Why This is Important
Tribal entities will be able to provide services to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis, including mental health, substance use disorder, or cooccurring mental health and substance use disorder. Mobile crisis services are able to reach any person in the service area in a timely manner and will connect individuals to facility-based or followup care, as needed, through handoffs and coordinated transportation to other locations, if necessary.
Grant Awards
The vehicles must be exclusively used for delivering or facilitating access to behavioral health mobile crisis and non-crisis prevention, treatment, and recovery support services, including culturally relevant healing practices and services. The project period will be from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025.
Additional Information
The CCMU program provides infrastructure and some initial direct service costs to increase access to mobile crisis and non-crisis services. CCMUs are expected to be mobile and field-based, not facility-based. While awards will be targeted toward expanding culturally sensitive behavioral health crisis services statewide, awardees will also support non-crisis services/interventions to prevent escalation and to mitigate crises.
Together with the Round 1A and 1B CCMU funding to 49 grantees, DHCS has awarded more than $163 million to Indian tribes, tribal organizations, urban Indian organizations, and county, city, and tribal behavioral health authorities. The combined awards will have created or enhanced more than 245 mobile crisis response teams throughout California.
This project is funded by the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program authorized by 2021 legislation (AB 133, Chapter 143). For more information, please visit the CCMU – Improving California’s Infrastructure webpage.