When someone experiences a crisis – a fire, crime, or medical emergency – they call 911 with the expectation of getting immediate emergency services. However, when that emergency is a behavioral health crisis, there is currently no timely and clinically appropriate response, which too often results in unnecessary suffering, loss of life, criminalization, or incarceration. A3 addresses this enormous need by making behavioral health part of the emergency response system throughout Contra Costa County.

This project is important to me personally because of Miles Hall and many others who have died due to NOT receiving appropriate behavioral health care. Miles was a 23-year-old African American male who was tragically killed by law enforcement while experiencing a behavioral health emergency in our county.

This project is working to address the unmet behavioral health needs in Contra Costa County through A3. A3 will provide timely and appropriate behavioral health crisis services to Anyone in Contra Costa County Anywhere at any time.

The model is to have a Crisis Call/Dispatch Center to de-escalate crises by phone when possible, mobile response teams to intervene on site (co-responding with law enforcement when necessary), and the build-out of an alternative destination site, the A3 Hub. The A3 Hub will house the A3 Miles Hall Crisis Call Center, Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center, Peer Respite Center, and Recharge (sobering) Center to decrease visits to the Hospital Emergency Department, Psychiatric Emergency Services Department, and Detention Centers.