Las Vegas, Nev. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and six of their colleagues in introducing a bill to help states adopt mobile crisis response teams that can be dispatched when a person is experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder (SUD) crisis instead of immediately involving law enforcement. The Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) Act provides funding through an enhanced federal match rate for state Medicaid programs.
“Individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis deserve to be treated with compassion and care by health care and social workers. We need more professionals with training in deescalating situations and addressing mental health crises, and this legislation would help more states across the country fund mobile crisis teams. I’m hopeful that these investments in community-based crisis intervention services will be included in the final version of the current coronavirus relief package, and I’ll continue to advocate for effective, trauma-informed care for those in need.”
BACKGROUND:
The Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) Act, grants states further enhanced federal Medicaid funding for three years to provide community-based mobile crisis services to individuals experiencing mental health or SUD crises. It also provides $25 million for planning grants and evaluations to help establish or build out mobile crisis programs.
A one-page summary of the bill can be found here.
Legislative text can be found here.
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