A bill introduced in the California Assembly last week would establish â988â as a statewide mental-health crisis call number and require counties to provide mobile crisis teams as an alternative to law enforcement.
AB988, introduced by Assembly Member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D), whose district includes the Tri-Valley, would require the Office of Emergency Services to establish at least one mental health crisis call center by July 2022.
The bill would also require counties to coordinate with the state mental health crisis call center and provide crisis services, including mobile crisis response teams, to anyone calling 988.
The bill would require that calls to 911 reporting a mental health crisis be transferred to a crisis center staffed by mental health counselors who can dispatch mobile crisis support teams, instead of police officers. Operators for 911 and 988 call centers would be able to coordinate their response if a medical, fire or law enforcement response was requir