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Park County —Bridge Team' expands mobile crisis response; Livingston hears local results
Summary
Park County Bridge Team managers told the Livingston City Commission the mobile crisis program is scaling up: telehealth-supported on-scene response, new certification for responders, Connect referral integration, MOUs with 988/211 and planned CIT academy training for local officers.
Kelly Miller, the manager presented an update Thursday to the Livingston City Commission on the Park County "Bridge Team," a mobile crisis response program that aims to keep people out of emergency rooms and jails by delivering on-scene behavioral health care.
"Our goal is to rapidly connect individuals with community services and resources and support law enforcement and first responders," Miller said, describing work that pairs crisis responders with telehealth clinicians and peer support staff.
Miller told commissioners the team is emphasizing three gaps: billing and Medicaid reimbursement; mobile crisis capacity and transportation barriers; and case management and warm handoffs. The team described a new mobile-responder certification developed with the university and the Department of Public Health and Human Services that will help make certain services billable under Medicaid when state rules change.
Operational details included partnerships with the Park County Drop-In Center, MOUs with the crisis lines (988 and 211) to route calls locally, and use of a streamlined referral tool called Connect referral so providers can follow up with clients instead of relying on the client to call. Miller said team members used telehealth and on-scene response to keep at least one person from an unnecessary ER trip earlier in the week.
"We stayed with her for an hour and a half and went through some telehealth stuff with her, and did some safety planning," Miller said of a recent intervention that staff said ended with a positive outcome.
Commissioners and the audience heard staffing and training updates. Miller said the team currently includes part-time responders with varied backgrounds (a firefighter, an educator and a peer support specialist) and that the program will host a local CIT (crisis intervention training) academy this summer so officers and mental-health staff can train together. EMT captain Chris Desborough, who joined the team, described how responders can triage calls and work with sheriff and ambulance crews in the valley.
Commissioners praised the collaboration and asked staff to continue reporting back as the team grows and as state funding and billing rules evolve. Miller and staff said they are preparing to expand outreach and will return with more specifics on training, billing pathways and referral workflows.
