Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh recently signed legislation to expand mental health services for residents. The $470,000 annual effort will fund two new Mental Health Agency Mobile Crisis Response Teams. The teams are designed to respond primarily to calls from police. County staff is then dispatched to assist in stabilizing the individual and connect them to the most appropriate services. During 2017, the teams were dispatched 1,912 times. The agency serves the entire county on a 24/7/365 basis.
One of the crisis response teams will help support the county’s Safe Stations Program, where any resident who is the victim of a heroin/opioid addiction can go to any Anne Arundel County or Annapolis City Fire Station and get connected to services. The second team will be assigned to the Anne Arundel County Public School system, and will help provide needed emergency mental health services to the students.