Hamilton County receives $750K Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Hamilton County mobile crisis team expansion grant expands staffing, formalizes partnerships and builds quality infrastructure to divert crises from law enforcement and community care - the Hamilton County mobile crisis team enhancement grant (hc‑mct‑e) will strengthen and expand the 24/7 mobile crisis team serving 838,418 Hamilton County, Ohio residents across 405.5 square miles. Although the current ucmc‑operated mct provides countywide response, capacity gaps persist: only 29% of responses occur in communities outside cincinnati, evening/weekend hours lack peer support, no formalized partnerships exist with 911, 988, first responders, or community providers, and no continuous quality improvement (cqi) structure is in place. The project will serve adults and youth experiencing mental health or substance use crises, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders (26%), bipolar disorder (13%), depressive disorders (12%), and individuals with documented sud (38%). Hc‑mct‑e will hire additional clinicians and peers at three satellite offices to expand geographic and after‑hours coverage; establish a peer‑led community outreach team; formalize triage and warm‑transfer protocols with 988/911; embed a triage worker in 911 dispatch; implement standardized sud screening; and build cqi infrastructure using epic dashboards and pdsa cycles. Project goals include expanding crisis response capacity, increasing peer‑supported prevention/postvention, strengthening coordination and diversion, improving identification and linkage for sud, and building data‑driven sustainability. Measurable objectives include increasing crisis runs outside cincinnati from 29% to ≥43%; reducing 988 overflow from 32% to ≤26%; decreasing law‑enforcement co‑response from 52% to ≤41%; and reducing 30‑day recidivism among peer‑services clients from 22% to ≤18% by 9/30/2029.