A coalition of behavioral health providers, including Behavioral Health System Baltimore and the Horizon Foundation, have approached the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission with a plan to create a centralized crisis care system across counties in the Baltimore metro region. 

The proposal would create a centralized crisis response system across Baltimore City and Howard, Carroll, and Baltimore counties. It would enable specialized care teams to coordinate to respond and connect individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with services diverting such individuals from emergency rooms and interactions with law enforcement. The coalition is seeking grant funding from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission’s  Regional Partnership Catalyst Grant Program.

Maryland Matters reports:

The plan has three key components:

The program proposed by Breidenstine’s organization and the many other stakeholders would establish a uniform response model across the four jurisdictions in the greater Baltimore area.

• A uniform crisis hotline ― or Care Traffic Control Center ― including an infrastructure that allows staff to dispatch crisis response teams, set up care appointments and track callers in real-time as they move through the local mental healthcare system;
• Mobile crisis units, or non-law enforcement teams with mental health professionals and peer support specialists, that are available to meet people in the field; and
• Expanded walk-in crisis clinics.

For more information:

Baltimore Region May See New Comprehensive Mental Health Crisis Care (Maryland Matters)