Building TRUST for West Valley mental health crisis response
Clearly, there’s a time and place for law enforcement. We depend on folks in law enforcement for our safety and well-being. But when we’re talking about a mental health or substance abuse crisis, we’ve got to be smarter and more adept about getting the right kind of help to the right place in the right set of circumstances.
That’s what Santa Clara County’s Trusted Response Urgent Support Team (TRUST) program is all about. Having a mental health professional available to assess, de-escalate, and connect individuals in crisis with counseling, mediation or mental health services — instead of an emergency department or jail.
TRUST is our County’s latest mobile response program, a partnership with Momentum for Health and Pacific Clinics, offering an intervention option with a 24-7 call center and in-person crisis support, without involving law enforcement.
TRUST is designed to help residents who need assistance in resolving conflicts or stressful situations with one phone call. If an individual or their loved one is experiencing a mental health crisis, they can call 988 from local area codes 408, 650 and 669 (or 800-704-0900 from other area codes).
Information shared on the call is assessed and evaluated by clinical staff in real time to determine if the situation can be resolved through de-escalation or counseling over the phone, or if it is necessary to dispatch in-person help.
Phone and in-person services include: mental/medical health assessment; stabilization; and, on-site resolution or transportation to another place of service for care. TRUST teams use a specialized vehicle with a safe and calming interior environment, and without the kinds of exterior lights or sirens that can cause additional anxiety or stress.
Critically, teams are staffed by licensed professionals and individuals with first-hand experience with mental health challenges, which often results in a deeper connection to individuals in crisis.
TRUST started with three teams serving North County, East San Jose, and Gilroy. Between the program’s launch in November 2022 and January 2024, these teams responded to more than 1,500 calls.
As Chair of the County’s Health and Hospital Committee, I know it’s important to provide this vital service more broadly — the pandemic significantly increased the number of people accessing existing mental health services in our County. I’m gratified that my Board colleagues approved my proposal for TRUST to expand to Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga, as well as large portions of San Jose.
“Many West County cities, including a large portion of San Jose and the communities of Cambrian, Fruitdale, West San Jose, and Willow Glen were previously without access to this valuable program,” San Jose Councilmember Pam Foley said in expressing her support. “With emergency department visits for people in psychiatric crisis increasing, I applaud the County’s leadership in expanding our ability to respond to mental health crises.”
I’m pleased that a new TRUST team dedicated to the West Valley and west San Jose communities was up and running starting in February, and is expected to be fully staffed and operational 24-7 by mid-summer.
Our neighbors, our friends, our family members are in crisis and need help. Obviously, when the police are needed, we want them there. But we’ve got to be smart about when and where. They’re not mental health professionals. It’s unfair — and unwise — to expect them to be, and the risk of a bad outcome is far too high.
To keep the public and law enforcement officials safe, we have to do more to provide an urgent and appropriate response for those experiencing a mental health crisis. It’s not easy, but it can be done. We’ve made solid progress in having the right teams and the right tools to do it. Because that’s what it takes to ensure the right response in a moment of crisis.
Joe Simitian
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
This article was originally published in Los Gatos Living and Saratoga Spotlight in May 2024.