San Mateo County approves $5 million mobile mental health response program

SAN MATEO, Calif. - San Mateo County says it will invest $5 million in its new mobile mental health program. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the program that they say will start in May.

This is the first time San Mateo County will use specialized teams to respond to mental health calls without involving police. Supervisor Noelia Corzo says this is something the community and advocates have been asking for.

"People can call 911 to specifically request this kind of response, so it creates this pathway that didn’t exist before," said Corzo.

San Mateo County has awarded a $5 million annual contract to Telecare Corporation, which will work with local nonprofit StarVista to operate a new mental health response system. Callers will soon be able to request help for a family member, a friend or anyone else, including themselves.

"They will have five mobile response vans that will be located throughout the county, at the ready for in-person response. That will be a game changer," said Corzo. 

After calls are screened, staff will arrive in unmarked vans for privacy. Corzo also says police will not go out on calls unless deemed necessary for other safety reasons. 

The city of San Mateo’s police department says since its mental health response program began in 2021, its clinic has responded to over 2,000 calls. 

"She has access to resources that a normal police officer doesn’t. So over the last couple of years, we’ve seen just a lot of success with the work that she’s doing," said Jerami Surrat, SMPD public information officer. 

San Mateo County says they expect response times for its mobile mental health program to be within an hour in central county areas and within 90 minutes along the coast.   

"Social workers work miracles, therapists work miracles, psychologists work miracles. They are skilled at deescalating situations and that is one of the big hopes of this program."

San Mateo County says it’s also planning an outreach campaign that will let people know about the service and the hotline.