By Moryt Milo
Momentum for Health Community Collaborator Paula Giannoni is on a mission to educate the community about Santa Clara County’s newest mobile field team that’s dispatched to individuals in the midst of a mental health or substance use crisis.
TRUST, short for Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, is the only non-law-enforcement crisis team in the county that meets people where they are. The team is dispatched to offer services and resources, to listen and help de-escalate the situation. They stay as long as needed.
The program launched in November 2023 and now operates throughout the county, having just recently expanded into the West Valley to cover Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, and Cupertino.
TRUST was created through a grassroots movement by the community for the community, after families witnessed their loved ones in mental health crisis lose their lives to police responding to the scene. TRUST does have the ability to place an individual on a 72-hour involuntary hold or a 5150. But Giannoni said that’s not the goal. De-escalation is the focus.
The mobile field team is a Santa Clara County program operated by two organizations. Momentum for Health works the North County, and Pacific Clinics works the South County and West Valley. TRUST operates 24/7 and is a service for those 18 and older.
Giannoni said TRUST does have a close partnership with the police for the safety of its team. The police also reach out to TRUST when officers assess a situation and determine that behavioral health professionals can better address the person’s needs.
Reaching TRUST
When an individual is having a mental health or substance use crisis that does not involve a possible suicide, drug overdose, or weapon, a family member or friend should call 988, not 911. When a 988 operator answers, the caller should ask for TRUST. The operator will dispatch a TRUST team to the location or connect the caller to the TRUST call center.
When a TRUST van arrives and knocks on the door, three individuals are there to help—a peer outreach specialist, a crisis intervention specialist and a certified EMT. There are no police. The peer specialist has lived experience, and the crisis interventionist has substance use experience.
“We come with physical, mental health, and substance use [knowledge] on hand and can accommodate and help,” Giannoni said.
But we are realistic, she added. The person has the right to refuse services or resources, at which point the team often pivots to other family members struggling with the situation. TRUST is not a one-and-done service. They look at the situation holistically.
“We see what’s around us. Is there a parent, friend, or family member in distress?” Giannoni said. “Any way we can provide our services [we will]. We know this situation affects more than one person.”
Even after they leave, TRUST will follow up one to two times to see if the individual might be more receptive to services and to check in with the family. These checks are done whether the initial contact is good or bad, Giannoni said.
Giannoni notes in the pyramid of county services, TRUST is at the lowest level of need. The other three mobile teams all have law enforcement. The Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) is for the highest crisis level. The caller needs to dial 911, but this service is not countywide. The other two mobile units are the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT), which is reached through the county’s Behavioral Health Services Department, and Mobile Response Stabilization Services (MRSS), which is the only service that works with children up to age 20 and is operated through Pacific Clinics.
TRUST provides one other service when dispatched. The team can take a person to a crisis mobilization center or a rehab center. This service is a free program and team members will never ask about a person’s legal status and no insurance is required.
The county is creating a direct line for TRUST to streamline the process. The goal is to have it in place by the end of the year. In the meantime, Giannoni said the mobile vans are not waiting around for the calls but driving to community hangouts because they want to be seen and utilized.
“When going through a crisis, it’s better to meet you where you are comfortable,” she said.
To learn more about TRUST, click here.
To watch the TRUST NAMI YouTube presentation, click here.
