AMSA and The Carter Center had prepared for months to meet with mobile crisis providers and agencies interested in alternative response models in Atlanta last week. The agenda for the in-person gathering highlighted successful program models, and future political or legislative agendas. Turn out was good with practitioners as variant as Chatham County (Savannah), Benchmark, the Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative, and Behavioral Health Link attending.

Thanks to all who organized and all who attended. The Peach State has dedication, urgency, and centralized funding to both expand and specialize mobile crisis for all its communities. Attendees and others will continue to meet virtually and plan for the future.

NEW MEMBER HIGHLIGHT

AMSA welcomes CommUnity Crisis Services to our Association! They house a 988 Mobile Crisis Program serving Johnson and Iowa Counties, Iowa.

In addition to providing mobile crisis services to these counties, CommUnity is currently developing a field mediation service by cross-training their mobile crisis responders, with the support of Dignity Best Practices (another AMSA member!).

A local mediation provider will be selected via an RFP process to develop a train-the-trainer curriculum for crisis responders that is tailored to the needs of their local community. We’re excited to see this deliberate scope and skillset expansion of an established mobile crisis program, and look forward to learning from their efforts!

HEADLINES

MINNEAPOLIS - Program diverted thousands of mental health calls from police. Its costs and oversight are under scrutiny. (Lodi News)

The use of unarmed mental health workers is one of the ways Minneapolis has moved away from using armed police to respond to all 911 calls, and part of a broader shift by law enforcement across Minnesota to respond to a growing number of mental health crisis calls.

The program has been lauded for freeing up police for other priorities and offering a more humane way to deal with people who have mental health issues.

Yet the cost of the behavioral crisis response teams has also ballooned since the program started four years ago, from $2.5 million the first year to about double that today. All told, the the city has spent more than $25 million on the program over the last five years.

Read more

SANTA FE - City’s struggling Alternative Response Unit set for an overhaul (New Mexican)

Created in 2021 to provide support for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, Santa Fe’s Alternative Response Unit has seen a significant decline in call volume, employees and case loads in the years since it was launched.

Former employees told The New Mexican the unit has not been supported by the Santa Fe Fire Department and described a culture of hostility to the program within the department. Several people said they retired or resigned from the unit because they felt it no longer had the structure it needed to operate successfully.

The city is preparing to roll out major changes to the ARU this year, which are currently being developed by a city working group including police and fire employees.

Read more

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: TBD, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

SAN FRANCISCO - Fire dept. quietly announced it will cut peer counselors from street crisis teams (Mission Local)

These Peers Provided Alternative 911 Responders. San Francisco Is Removing Them (KQED)

San Francisco is quietly shifting its emergency response networks and the roles that peers with lived experience have within them. The fire department is planning to remove peer specialists from its 911 response this summer, setting off alarms for peer advocates who say the decision is a regressive step in the city’s approach to mental and behavioral health emergencies.

Fire department officials said the move to pull peers off of the Street Crisis Response Team came after “careful consideration,” and cited challenges with scheduling that made picking up the peer responders before calls difficult.

ANTIOCH - City council OKs budget with help of ‘rainy day’ funds (Mercury News)

The significant expenditure hike was projected under the assumption that the city would continue to fund the Angelo Quinto Community Response Team and the proposed Homekey+ project. The community response team was named in honor of an Antioch man who died in December 2020, after experiencing a medical emergency while Antioch officers were detaining him during a mental health crisis.

Antioch’s first 24/7 non-police mobile crisis response team began in 2023 and relies on American Rescue Plan Act funding, which expires on Dec. 31. In 2025, the response team’s service hours were reduced to 12.

Read more

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

VNS Health

Originally the “Visiting Nurse Service of New York”, VNS Health traces its public health roots all the way back to 1893. “That’s longer than the subway system, before the Yankees and only 10 years after the Brooklyn Bridge opened.”

The VNS behavioral health mobile crisis program is quite mature as well, having begun operation in 1988, making it a 38 year old program. For over two decades, this program was the only non-hospital mobile crisis operation in New York City.

Today their adult and children mobile crisis teams serve the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens. We welcome VNS Health to AMSA!

AMSA MEETINGS

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: September 16, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: TBD, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: TBD, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

ITHACA - Recruitment Begins for New ROOTS Community Responders (press release)

ROOTS, short for Responders Offering Outreach, Trust, and Support, is a community responder model designed to provide a non-police response to certain non-violent calls for service. The program is a central component of Ithaca’s Reimagining Public Safety initiative and reflects several years of planning, community input, and policy direction.

Read more

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: September 15, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

ATLANTA - Georgia’s new mental health law reshapes community clinics, expands crisis response statewide (WSAV)

Senate Bill 535 restructures Georgia’s Community Service Boards, the regional organizations that provide public mental health, substance use, and developmental disability services across the state.

The state now deploys approximately 1,750 mobile crisis responses every month. The teams operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are available to respond to both children and adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.

Read more

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: September 16, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: TODAY July 21, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

Baltimore to overhaul how it responds to calls for mental health and other services (NPR)

Baltimore is about to completely overhaul how it responds to 911 calls. For calls that are not emergencies, the city wants to intervene before a situation develops into a crisis or crime.

Tahir Duckett, “These are the call types that, in other jurisdictions, we found oftentimes contain a lot of calls that don't require a badge, a gun and handcuffs to resolve.”

BERKSHIRE - New Massachusetts budget will fund mental health alternative response task force (WAMC)

Rather than call the police, people in crisis or their loved ones would call the task force and speak with properly-trained professionals and without the threat of lethal force.

State Senator Paul Mark, “A different group shows up, and they’re the people that go in, and they’re the people with the patience to walk through and to sit there and let things cool down. Throughout the county, we’ve seen problems occasionally over the past 15 years, and I think we’ve seen great strides forward. And so now it’s time to make sure that every corner, every zip code, every town in this county is going to be able to get where we all need and want to be.”

Read more

AMSA MEETINGS

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

TOMORROW - Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 15, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 21, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

BERKELEY - City slashes 2 safety net programs — a mental health crisis team and a homeless shelter (Berkeleyside)

In closing a $30 million deficit last month, Berkeley leaders dismantled some longstanding pieces of the city’s social safety net by eliminating a groundbreaking mental health crisis team and shuttering a winter shelter that served many older homeless residents.

The Mobile Crisis Team, a mental health response unit that has operated alongside Berkeley police since 1979 and may have been the first of its kind in the nation, will shut down this month. Clinicians, advocates and city workers warn that the cuts will leave vulnerable residents with fewer places to turn, while police — who are also facing a staffing crisis — will be the default responders to even more psychiatric emergencies.

The cuts come in the wake of other closures of mental health and homelessness services.

The city’s Specialized Care Unit, a non-police mental health response team, was handed off to Alameda County last year, after years of understaffing, lack of funding and slow response times. And last month, the Berkeley Wellness Center, an arts-focused space for people living with mental illness, shuttered after losing funding from Alameda County. Both closures were driven in part by Proposition 1, a 2024 state measure that restructured behavioral health funding more toward housing and addiction and away from general community programs.

Facing $30M deficit, Berkeley eliminates Mobile Crisis Team, reduces shelters, wellness services (Daily Californian)

Read more

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 15, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 21, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

INDIANA - NAMI West Central Indiana marks one year with Mobile Crisis Response Unit (WLFI)

The NAMI Mobile Crisis Response Unit has responded to 270 dispatch calls between April 2025 and June 2026. Out of the 270 calls, 81% of the crises were resolved without hospitalization or police intervention. Many of the calls are responded to alongside local law enforcement.

NORTH CAROLINA - A crisis team that stays: How a new NC program is keeping kids out of the ER (NC Health News)

A new North Carolina mobile crisis program for children, MORES, aims to keep kids out of emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals by sending mental health workers directly to families’ homes for up to eight weeks.

Started in 2023, the MORES program — mobile outreach, response, engagement and stabilization — is a special mobile crisis unit for children and young people ages 3 to 21 who are experiencing heightened emotional or behavioral health needs. A MORES team responds to non-life-threatening crises within an hour of receiving a call. A team includes a licensed clinician trained in adolescent care and a family peer support specialist — someone who has experienced caring for a child with behavioral health issues and can walk alongside the caregivers.

Read more

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 15, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 21, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

HEADLINES

CAMBRIDGE - Majority of CARE responses not for mental health (Cambridge Day)

A civilian emergency response team created to provide an alternative to police, especially for people experiencing mental health distress, answered very few mental health calls last year – only three percent of the total, as measured by emergency dispatches.

Community Safety Department 2025 Impact Report

Cambridge started its Community Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) team in 2024 as part of a new Community Safety Department, to provide an unarmed alternative to police, especially for people in a mental health crisis. Even by the agency’s own “Impact Report” for 2025, only 43 percent of its calls involved “a behavioral health component,” according to Marie Mathieu, head of the Community Safety Department. And that was often not the reason responders were dispatched but was identified after they answered a call in a different category.

Read more

Georgia State Collective
Date/Time: June 26, 10:00 AM ET (two meetings, one registration):
Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center
Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come
Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 15, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: July 21, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller

Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM
Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT

Read more

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: July 15, 2026 3:00 pm MDT/ 05:00 pm EST, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: July 24, 3:00 pm EST, 2:00 PM CST/3:00 pm EST, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: July 21, 2026 3:00 pm PST/6:00 pm EST, facilitated by Andre Miller

HEADLINES

EVANSTON - CARE team in sees growing success in crisis response (CBS)

The small but mighty Evanston CARE team is reimagining emergency response for people in crisis and drawing national attention for the results.

They’re not police officers, firefighters, or paramedics, but they’ve been dispatched to more than 3,500 calls across Evanston in less than two years.

Read more

AMSA State Collective Meetings

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: July 15, 2026 3:00 pm MDT/ 05:00 pm EST, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: July 24, 3:00 pm EST, 2:00 PM CST/3:00 pm EST, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: July 21, 2026 3:00 pm PST/6:00 pm EST, facilitated by Andre Miller

HEADLINES

SALEM - One person at a time, new team eases homelessness, crises on Salem’s streets (Salem Reporter)

The REACH Team – which stands for Rapid Engagement, Assessment and Community Health – is a six-month pilot managed by the Salem Fire Department in partnership with Marion County’s health department.

The three-person team of a paramedic, EMT and mental health worker formed in January as one local response to homelessness, substance use and mental health crises.

The initiative came along with expansions for existing teams working with Salem’s unhoused and new collaborations with community partners on public safety.

Read more

June 4 & 5 the crisisverse convened at the Sears Tower in Chicago for the 2026 Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening: Establishing Permanence.

Two days of panels, plenaries, and plenty of socializing, with good food, smart vendors, the rooms were filled with learning and inspiration. New friends, new ideas, new energy.

Thank you so much …

Read more

OHIO - ‘Shear Hope’ launched to train stylists in mental health crisis response (Record Herald)

Community of Hope, the Fayette County Suicide Prevention Coalition, has launched Shear Hope, a free mental health training initiative designed to equip stylists, barbers, estheticians, nail technicians, and other personal service professionals with the skills to recognize when a client may be struggling and connect them to help.

The initiative launched its first training at Vagabond Salon, with the support of owner Andrea Gayheart. Stylists learned how to recognize warning signs, ask directly and confidently about mental health concerns, respond without judgment, and connect clients to local resources.

Why Stylists?

Research shows that nearly 1 million Ohioans are living with untreated mental illness. But personal service professionals occupy a unique and powerful position in their communities: clients trust them, return to them consistently, and often open up to them in ways they may not with anyone else, including mental health professionals.

“It’s important that we always have community folks that are able to get people the help they need,” said trainer Jeenee Morrison, LISW-S, MS, “because you’ll see your hairdresser way more than you will your mental health professional most likely.”

Read more

City of Cambridge CARE, the Alternative Mobile Services Association, and 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms will host a national virtual screening of BEYOND THE CALL, a documentary film about the Cambridge CARE Alternative Response Program. A panel discussion after the film will include Marie Mathieu, Director of Community Safety for the City of Cambridge, Jeff Alger - a CARE Responder, Christina Giacobbe, Director of Emergency Communications, and Pauline Wells, Acting Police Commissioner. The panel will be moderated by Tansy McNulty of 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms.

Thursday, May 28 4 PM ET

Register for this unique one-time event
https://bit.ly/beyondthecall26

Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening – Establishing Permanence - Convene at Willis Tower | Chicago, IL | June 4 – 5

This event will SELL OUT. A limited number of registrations are still available.

Empowered Leadership Coaching Program - with Dr. Kim Everett
Supports practitioners leading crisis prevention and intervention programs, offering a dedicated space for reflection, growth, and skill-building - 12 CEs.

Click here to register. Dates: Twelve weeks - June 13th - August 15th.

AMSA State Collective Meetings - upcoming

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 20 3:00 PM MDT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 22 2:00 PM CDT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: May 27 3:00 PM PDT, facilitated by Andre Miller

FUNDING

SAMHSA - Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Team Partnerships

The purpose of this program is to establish new, or enhance existing, mobile crisis teams that serve children, youth, and adults experiencing mental health or substance use crises. Its focus is the expansion of behavioral health crisis response capacity and the development of structured partnerships that reduce reliance on law enforcement and emergency departments for behavioral health crises.

LEGISLATION

Minnesota Legislature passed the supplemental Health and Human Services budget bill (SF4612) strengthening mental health services, $3.8 million for mobile crisis grants, and reducing harm to Minnesotans caused by cuts to healthcare and food assistance in the federal H.R. 1 bill.

Read more

City of Cambridge CARE, the Alternative Mobile Services Association, and 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms will host a national virtual screening of BEYOND THE CALL, a documentary film about the Cambridge CARE Alternative Response Program. A panel discussion after the film will include Marie Mathieu, Director of Community Safety for the City of Cambridge, Jeff Alger - a CARE Responder, Christina Giacobbe, Director of Emergency Communications, and Pauline Wells, Acting Police Commissioner. The panel will be moderated by Tansy McNulty of 1 Million Madly Motivated Moms.

Thursday, May 28 4 PM EDT

Register for this unique one-time event
https://bit.ly/beyondthecall26

Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening – Establishing Permanence - Convene at Willis Tower | Chicago, IL | June 4 – 5

Empowered Leadership Coaching Program - with Dr. Kim Everett
Supports practitioners leading crisis prevention and intervention programs, offering a dedicated space for reflection, growth, and skill-building - 12 CEs.

Click here to register. Dates: Twelve weeks - June 13th - August 15th.

AMSA State Collective Meetings - upcoming

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 20 3:00 PM MDT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 22 2:00 PM CDT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: May 27 3:00 PM PDT, facilitated by Andre Miller

HEADLINES

CHICAGO - Mayor Doubles Mental-Health Crisis Vans, Bets Big On Social Media Tax Showdown (HOODLINE)

Money will double the fleet to eight vans and add about 20 staffers, including two alternates to keep shifts covered. The city plans to split operations into north and south zones, with four vans assigned to each area. City officials are clear that the short-term boost comes from federal relief. The tougher question is how to pay for any future growth. Their answer is a brand-new social-media “amusement” tax, a plan that has already triggered a courtroom fight.

Read more

Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening – Establishing Permanence - Convene at Willis Tower | Chicago, IL | June 4 – 5

Empowered Leadership Coaching Program - with Dr. Kim Everett
This AMSA program supports practitioners leading crisis prevention and intervention programs, & offers a dedicated space for reflection, growth, and skill-building - 12 CEs through the NASW.

Click here to register. Dates: June 13th - August 15th

AMSA State Collective Meetings - upcoming

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 20 3:00 PM MDT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 22 2:00 PM CDT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: May 27 3:00 PM PDT, facilitated by Andre Miller

NEW YORK CITY - Mamdani fills key post in new community safety office with behavioral health expert (AMNY)

Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed Dr. Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, a longtime behavioral health leader to serve as commissioner of his newly created Office of Community Safety. Delany-Brumsey currently serves as senior advisor and director of community-based services in the Office of Behavioral Health at NYC Health + Hospitals & has overseen citywide behavioral health programming, including mobile crisis teams and B-HEARD.

Read more

When 25-year-old Alex LaMorie, an autistic man in Maryland, called 911 during a mental health crisis, he was following the plan meant to keep him safe. Instead, police arrived, and within minutes, he was dead, s…

Read more

Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening – Establishing Permanence - Convene at Willis Tower | Chicago, IL | June 4 – 5

Empowered Leadership Coaching Program - with Dr. Kim Everett
Supports practitioners leading crisis prevention and intervention programs, offering a dedicated space for reflection, growth, and skill-building - 12 CEs.

Dates: Twelve weeks - June 13th - August 15th

Click here to register.

AMSA State Collective Meetings - May 2026

Sign up using the links below to get connected to your state and join us in May.

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 20 3:00 PM MDT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 22 2:00 PM CDT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 27 3:00 PM PDT, facilitated by Andre Miller

FUNDING

The Association of Washington Cities in partnership with the Washington Health Care Authority is pleased to announce the next round of funding for the Alternative Response Team Grant Program. $1.4 million is available for FY 26/27.

Read more

Advancing the Field of Alternative Response Convening – Establishing Permanence - Convene at Willis Tower | Chicago, IL | June 4 – 5

Empowered Leadership Coaching Program - with Dr. Kim Everett
Supports practitioners leading crisis prevention and intervention programs, offering a dedicated space for reflection, growth, and skill-building - 12 CEs.

Dates: Twelve weeks - June 13th - August 15th

Click here to register or use the QR code below.

AMSA Data Special Interest group
Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: June 17 10:00 AM PDT

Join technical and research-minded practitioners to advance how data, monitoring & evaluation, and technology support mobile crisis response nationwide.

AMSA recently held statewide collective meetings in both Colorado, Oregon, and in Georgia in partnership with The Carter Center. Turnout and engagement exceeded expectations. Representatives came from across the spectrum of mobile crisis and alternative response programs serving some of the most under resourced communities in their states. Participants engaged in honest, grounded conversations about the challenges shaping this work, including funding constraints, Medicaid billing barriers, and the need for stronger coordination between 911 dispatch and crisis services. It was exactly the kind of cross-sector dialogue that moves this field forward.

Sign up using the links below to get connected to your state and join us in May.

AMSA State Collective Meetings - upcoming

Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 20 3:00 PM MDT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke

Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM
Next Date/Time: May 22 2:00 PM CDT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton

Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM,
Next Date/Time: May 27 3:00 PM PDT, facilitated by Andre Miller

ACTIVISM

Phoenix is facing a new ordinance that effectively bans medical care for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in city parks. The Safe Medical Treatment in Parks Ordinance (G-7467, Sec. 23-45) prohibits street medicine, harm reduction services, and food distribution except through a very limited and unworkable permit system.

Scheduled to begin June 1, when heat can be deadly for those without shelter, this ordinance is framed as one of safety against drug litter, but will instead cause further harm without offering solutions. Healthcare providers across the country are raising concerns that the ordinance would limit access to care for people living unsheltered and increase preventable illness and death.

Sign On to Oppose this Ordinance!

As part of this effort, the Street Medicine Institute is reaching out to you as individuals and organizations to sign on to a letter of opposition to this ordinance.

Add your name and/or organization to the following letters of opposition:

• Individual Letter

• Organizational Letter

HEADLINES

Read more