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Fire‑department crisis response teams win praise; officials push for state funding to sustain and expand CRTs
Summary
City and county fire and EMS officials and state staff told the subcommittee that mobile Crisis Response Teams (CRTs) in Las Vegas and North Las Vegas have diverted large shares of behavioral‑health 9‑1‑1 calls and provided extensive follow‑up. Witnesses urged legislature to fund sustained operations (Decision Unit E268/E2608).
Officials from Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, North Las Vegas Fire Department and state staff described mobile Crisis Response Team (CRT) programs and urged the Joint Subcommittee on Human Services to fund continued operations and expansion.
Art Perillo, assistant fire chief for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, told the committee the CRT program, started as a pilot in 2016, now assists over 3,000 individuals annually and in 2024 “successfully diverted over 70 percent of behavioral health related cases to appropriate care facilities, shelters or on scene crisis intervention.” Perillo added that the program performed more than 5,000 follow‑up contacts in 2024, and the city has provided $1.5 million to supplement medical and transport costs.
North Las Vegas—which also operates a CRT embedded in its fire department—asked for state funds for a model that pairs EMS responders with licensed mental‑health professionals and adds an opioid component. Fire Chief Joseph Calhoun and Deputy Fire Chief Justin Campbell said the CRT model enables on‑scene assessment and transport to more appropriate destinations than emergency departments, and they warned that loss of grant funding would force program closure.
State staff who work with the CRTs described the North Las Vegas model as a promising practice the department is working to integrate with broader crisis‑response infrastructure, including Medicaid, the 988 crisis line and technical assistance for sustainability. Witnesses said North Las Vegas’s CRT approach includes co‑responding EMS and qualified mental‑health professionals (licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage‑and‑family therapists or equivalent) and that an opioid‑focused component will be added in coordination with substance‑use funding.
Why it matters: Supporters argued CRTs reduce emergency‑room transports, lower costs, and provide on‑scene alternatives that link individuals to follow‑up care. Several witnesses said CRTs help prevent decompensation and repeat hospitalizations, freeing emergency and inpatient capacity.
Budget ask and next steps: Witnesses asked the subcommittee to support Decision Unit E268 (Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services mobile crisis staffing) and equivalent funding for North Las Vegas. Department staff said work is ongoing to align CRT operations with Medicaid reimbursement and other revenue streams, and they described the CRTs as a model to be integrated into statewide crisis response planning.
(Reported from testimony and public comment to the Joint Subcommittee on Human Services.)
