Kelly Miller, mobile crisis response team program manager, updated the Livingston City Commission on the newly formed mobile crisis response team and its plan to stabilize residents in behavioral‑health crises outside hospitals.

Miller told commissioners the team’s mission is to provide "immediate, compassionate, and trauma informed support to individuals experiencing behavioral health crises," with the goal of stabilizing people "in the least restrictive and most supportive environment possible" and diverting them from unnecessary hospitalization, incarceration or ambulance transport.

The program is a joint effort with Park County and launched with state grant support from the Department of Health and Human Services. Miller said the program has been operating in a limited form for nearly a year through a part‑time peer support specialist, Jeanette Tecca, and is now moving toward a co‑responder model that provides immediate, in‑person crisis intervention. The team currently includes Miller as program manager, peer support specialist Jeanette Tecca, and Park County paramedic Bree Scott; the city is recruiting on‑call paraprofessional responders with social‑work, trauma or lived‑experience backgrounds.

Miller said partners engaged in planning include the Livingston Police Department, the Park County Sheriff's Office, local fire and EMS, Livingston Healthcare, HRDC, the community drop‑in center and Aspen. She said Chiefs Hart and Emanuel reviewed draft standard operating procedures and that the team is finalizing coordinated dispatch systems and SOPs to align with best practices.

To support clinical decisionmaking in the field, the city has contracted with telehealth provider Alena and is building an electronic medical record system; Miller said the telehealth service is scheduled to go live by Nov. 1 so licensed behavioral‑health clinicians can be available remotely for assessments that may reduce hospital transports.

On access and dispatch, Miller said callers should be directed to 988 in the first instance. "Ninety percent of callers are stabilized over the phone when they call 988," she said, adding that dispatchers will gather safety‑related information so they can route calls to the CRT and determine whether an on‑scene response is needed. Inside city limits the team will try to reach people "within that first 30 minutes of them calling," Miller said, noting the program will operate as a co‑responder with law enforcement present or nearby during an expected transition period of roughly a year.

Miller provided baseline metrics and outreach plans: the city currently averages about 12 monthly suicide or mental‑health calls (roughly one every other day), the team recently staffed a community outreach presence at a Park County fair event with Livingston Healthcare, and the Mental Health Advisory Council will help expand education efforts during Mental Health and Suicide Awareness months. Miller also thanked staff (Kristin Gee) and noted that the state covered the cost of a program vehicle and grant funds will support local Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to be hosted in Park County for the first time.

Commissioners responded with praise and a mix of operational questions about when to call 988 versus 911 and how dispatch will triage calls. Miller repeated that 988 is the appropriate starting point and described dispatch training and the planned 30‑minute response target. She also described her own local experience working with Aspen, flood recovery, and as a former 9‑1‑1 dispatcher and Montana Army National Guard member, and said hiring interviews are underway for additional paraprofessional responders.

There were no formal motions or votes recorded on the topic during the meeting. The next steps Miller laid out were completing SOPs, finalizing the EMR/telehealth integration (target Nov. 1), completing staff hires, and hosting local CIT training; commissioners did not take a formal vote on policy or funding changes at this session.