NAMPA, Idaho — Starting this summer, people calling or texting 988 in Idaho will have 24/7 access to behavioral health teams that can come directly to them during a crisis.
Behavioral organizations across the state are working with local law enforcement agencies and the local 988 hotlines to provide mobile response teams to people in crisis.
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Anyone who calls or texts 988 can be given the option to have licensed social workers show up to offer support. Beginning July 1, that resource will be available 24/7 statewide.
"We do not define the crisis for the community member. So with that said, we can go out to someone who's been actively having suicidal thoughts, to someone who's having thoughts of harming others," Javier Torrez said.
Torrez is the Director of Clinical Services at Community Bridges, one of the organizations providing mobile crisis response.
Mobile crisis teams are not just partnering with 988 but also local law enforcement agencies.
The community member doesn't necessarily have to call 988 directly to access these services.
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"There's been several occasions where law enforcement will reach out to 988 and say, 'Hey, we would like the mobile crisis response team to come out and provide support,'" Torrez said.
Successful in-house mental health programs within departments in Ada County pushed Nampa Police to explore creating their own program. By June, Nampa PD will have a licensed social worker on staff, ready to respond with an officer for a person experiencing a mental health crisis.
"I mean, we've had a huge, hundreds of percent increase over five, eight years of our calls that had some kind of a mental health component because the vast majority of our calls, drugs and mental health," said Curt Shankel, Deputy Chief of the Nampa Police Department.
"We will still utilize the mobile response team, and that is a huge resource for our community to be able to have those professionals come out and to be able to really work with the individual much more long-term than what a law enforcement response will get," Shankel said.
The Idaho Crisis & Suicide Hotline reports that in the first three months of 2025, 475 mobile response teams have gone out to community members throughout the state.
If you or anyone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988. It is free and available 24/7.
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