Mobile Rapid Response Crisis Team

What is MRRCT? 

DESC’s Mobile Rapid Response Crisis Team (MRRCT) is a county-funded program that provides a person-centered approach to the imminent and emergent needs of community members in behavioral health or other crisis.  

Services are available across King County, with DESC responding to the central region, primarily Seattle, and Sound Behavioral Health covering the south and northeast region. The DESC team has been providing compassionate, safe, and trusted mobile crisis response services to the community for over a decade.   

DESC’s mobile crisis team provides people in psychiatric or other behavioral health crisis with an option for help that doesn’t involve calling 911 or dispatching police — a critical alternative that matches health crises with health responses and saves law enforcement resources for situations involving acute safety risks.   

Teams consist of behavioral health specialists and professionals, and certified peer counselors who respond to calls in pairs. They also work to prevent future crises from occurring by connecting people to the resources and services they need to stabilize during the initial encounter. Services include transport to a safe location and a next-day follow-up to ensure connection to care. 

Who do the mobile crisis teams serve? 

The mobile crisis response team serves anyone who is in crisis, but especially individuals in escalated psychiatric or other behavioral health situations that may be averse to response by law enforcement. Team members include behavioral health professionals who are trained in de-escalation, harm reduction, and culturally responsive care to provide nonjudgmental, tailored essential services. 

Crisis response teams can assist anyone in crisis, with no limit relating to acuity level, location, drug use, or if there is an indication of crime. The team can also respond to situations where minors are present, if there is extreme behavior present, and in homeless encampments. 

“[They were] saying exactly everything I needed to hear in that moment to feel safe,” said a veteran who called DESC’s mobile crisis response team and received support within the hour. 

Why are mobile crisis teams needed? 

DESC’s mobile crisis response team builds community trust by responding to mental health and other behavioral health crises without involving law enforcement. It also minimizes avoidable hospitalizations and arrests, and ensures individuals receive compassionate, respectful support during their hardest moments.  

In 2025, DESC’s mobile crisis response team: 

  • Served 1,754 unique clients 
  • Responded to crisis with an average response time of 29 minutes 
  • Performed a total of 2,822 outreaches 

How to get help: 

Community members can do the following if someone is experiencing a crisis related to mental health or substance use: