Building Blocks: How Medicaid Can Advance Mental Health and Substance Use Crisis Response
Many communities in the U.S. are reexamining the way in which they respond to people who are experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. Public recognition of growing rates of mental health issues and addiction, and of law enforcement’s outsized role in behavioral health crisis response, are helping to drive this reappraisal.
Crisis response programs that prioritize behavioral health interventions can improve health outcomes. They can also promote public safety and reduce the likelihood that people have negative and unnecessary interactions with the criminal legal system. Addressing racial equity issues in the health and criminal legal systems is a primary focus of crisis response redesign in many communities.
Read this Issue Brief Supported by Well Being Trust and written By Vikki Wachino and Natasha Camhi
