BHL Speaker(s): Dr. John Draper (moderator)
Co-speakers: Dr. Deborah Haskins
Mobile Crisis Teams (MCTs) are among the most rapidly expanding components of America’s crisis care continuum. As of 2024, the latest NRI State Profiles report 2,111 mobile crisis teams nationwide, serving nearly 900,000 people in the past year, supported by more than $900 million in public investment. From today’s vantage
Reflecting on 2025’s Crisis Care Transformation and Our 2026 Vision As we close out 2025 and look toward the year ahead, we’re grateful for the opportunity to work alongside crisis care leaders who are transforming how communities respond to behavioral health emergencies. This past year brought important conversations about what
What if the biggest barrier to seamless crisis care isn’t lack of resources—it’s the invisible gaps between your systems? The Scenario Every Crisis Leader Knows Too Well Here’s the reality: Your 988 crisis call center operates in one system. Your mobile crisis teams are documenting on tablets, sometimes not syncing
Join Dr. Chuck Browning, CEO & President of Behavioral Health Link, and Kristen Ellis, Senior Director of Consulting at Recovery Innovations, as they discuss how crisis systems can effectively support people with substance use disorder when they have the courage to reach out for help. This conversation moves beyond barriers
By John Draper, Ph.D. Can SAMHSA and state leaders keep the promise of 988 without reporting on and supporting follow-up care? When the FCC recommended to Congress in 2019 that 988 be designated as the new three-digit number for mental health and suicide crises, it described the evidence simply and
 Seatbelts existed for decades before they became standard—and even longer before people actually used them. The same is true for effective substance use crisis tools. We have direct access pathways, 988 crisis lines, and alternatives to 911 that keep people out of emergency departments and away from law enforcement—but
Accessibility Tools
