Lane County will soon launch a mobile crisis response program to serve far-flung, rural communities often referred to as “mental health care deserts.”
Lane County officials acknowledge there are significant disparities in geographic health equity across Oregon’s sixth largest county.
“For many individuals and whole communities in Lane County, they don’t have a health facility anywhere close to them, which means that they have difficulty accessing services," said Health and Human Services spokesperson Jason Davis. "For those individuals who might be without a car— or forget to line up transportation—they’re without health care.”
Davis said "Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County" aims to change that—that is at least when it comes to mental health care.
The new program will dispatch trained workers—instead of police—to help rural residents experiencing behavioral health or substance abuse crises. It’s based on a national model much like CAHOOTS, which serves people within Eugene and Springfield. West Lane Crisis Services, which sprang up as a pilot project five years ago, serves coastal residents in and around Florence.
Now, the plan is for Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County to act as an “umbrella organization.” Davis said all new and existing mobile crisis services—including CAHOOTS and West Lane—will operate under Oregon Health Authority requirements.
“Those requirements are just about insuring that qualified mental health professionals are in the vehicle addressing these emergencies," he said. "It’s really the same level of scrutiny that one would expect from any physical health service.”
The challenges
The expansion is expected to cost about $5 million per year. Davis said the initial funding is secured thanks to state lawmakers. Eventually, the county hopes to cover its costs through health insurance and Medicaid.
It will take 40 staff members to support the county-wide mobile crisis program. Davis said that the hiring process is underway, but acknowledged it’s been a slow go. “It’s a challenge to hire for convenience store workers right now, much less qualified mental health professionals,” Davis said.
And the work is hard. Mobile crisis counselors must pull up ready to help folks who might be having their very worst day.
“We should tip our hats to those who are currently doing this work and also to those who may decide to do this work in the future," said Davis.
The county has already purchased a couple vehicles as part of the mobile fleet and expects to be ready to start serving rural communities by late spring.
Rural community impacts
Oakridge City Manager James Cleavenger says his rural community, an hour outside of Eugene, is thrilled to get access to mental health crisis care. “We just don’t have any services here in Oakridge,” he said.
He and other city leaders are hammering out a memorandum of understanding with Lane County to set up an outpost for a mobile crisis team. As a former Oakridge police officer, Cleavenger has responded to many behavioral health crisis calls. “Folks who are seeing things that don’t exist, seeing people flying in the sky that they believe have stolen their liver or kidney," he said. "You know, they’re definitely not well.”
Cleavenger said fires are commonly started by residents in the throes of a mental health breakdown. He added the local police and fire chiefs look forward to the support.
“It doesn’t mix well and makes the problem worse when an individual is going through whatever mental health crisis they are going through, sees a uniformed police officer show up versus the more friendly faces of mental health crisis workers,” he said.
Cleavenger said the county has indicated that a mobile crisis unit could get boots and tires on the ground in Oakridge by May. A two-person team will begin with daily 12-hour shifts before working up to a 24/7 schedule.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, the national crisis hotline is 988.
