October marked two months of Mobile Crisis Services’s Lane County six-month pilot. Professionals from Lane County Health and Human Services and the Behavioral Health Division have served the community for two months through the Mobile Crisis Services of Lane County.
The program assists those experiencing a mental health crisis and was started as a way to address the mental health needs of people in Eugene and more rural areas of Lane County. MCS works primarily as a way to de-escalate crises and mitigate police involvement.
Olivia McClelland, behavioral health clinical services manager at BHD, said MCS-LC has received a “significant” increase of calls from areas in Oakridge, Cottage Grove and Junction City.
MCS-LC averages around eight to 10 calls per night, and is seeing a “steady” increase in weekly calls from metropolitan and rural Lane County, according to McClelland. Additionally, MCS-LC professionals have expressed challenges with hiring.
“Our biggest challenge has been staffing in terms of mental health services across the state. We are no different here,” McClelland said.
According to McClelland, the US has been experiencing a mental health crisis and a low number of mental health professionals have been available in the workforce. Some reasons include challenges with appropriate training, inadequate pay and a poor insurance reimbursement model.
“As with any new service, we are working to ensure sustainable funding to support the longevity of programming, which includes identifying multiple, appropriate funding sources comprised of statewide funding specific to mobile crisis services for communities,” LCHHS Communications Director Jason Davis said.
MCS-LC largely operates out of vehicles that come to those in crisis and currently serve areas as far as Mapleton in West Lane County. Past that point, the Western Lane Fire and Emergency Services undertakes the crisis support duty.
According to Davis, Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets and MCS-LC share the patients served in the Eugene-Springfield area. Around 30% is attended to by MCS while CAHOOTS manages 70% in the metropolitan area.
“We have been able to make good connections with a lot of the emergency medical services and law enforcement agencies, especially in areas that haven’t typically been served in our community,” McClelland said.
Davis said mobile crisis services would ideally be funded at similar levels to critical first responders like Fire and Emergency Medical Services.
“In the field of mental health, it’s really hard work,” McClelland said. “This is passion work for a lot of people and they still have to pay their bills. There is supposed to be a parity between physical health and mental health provision and that’s not always recognized in the wages people are paid.”
When prospective new hires are found and onboarded, they must train to integrate into emergency systems around the city, including police and emergency health services.
“Not having 24/7 coverage has been a challenge,” McClelland said. “We know that the need is out there, and we are going to continue expanding as we continue to hire folks.”
The six-month pilot informs MCS-LC what the demand in Lane County looks like and how to best match it with the right amount of personnel.
A new PeaceHealth Stabilization Center is expected to open in 2027. Lane County is currently in a 90-day due diligence period before purchasing the land where it will soon be constructed.
The stabilization center would work in tandem with the MCS-LC and other crisis services to provide a place for those patients to receive appropriate care typically unavailable in an emergency room.
“I think that is an important part of a larger response to mental health crises in our community,” McClelland said. “That is the three-prong model, the crisis line, the mobile crisis and the stabilization center. If they know it exists, they can walk in and it wouldn’t have to rise to a certain level.”
