Credit UPR On Monday, the Utah Senate passed three bills that would develop and expand the state’s crisis intervention teams. Republican Senator Daniel Thatcher from West Valley City sponsored Senate Bill 53, which would allow members of the Emergency Medical Service to be certified in behavioral health training. Sen. Thatcher said while Mobile Crisis Outreach Team intervention proves successful in mitigating harm in a mental or behavioral health crisis, there aren’t enough members to cover the need.
“Those Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams are staffed with licensed clinical social workers,” Thatcher said. “And when they are available to respond to a call, there’s a 75% chance that the individual is stabilized and sent home. The problem is, we will never have enough MCOT teams to get to every single behavioral call.”