Last updated: February 2025
Many Santa Cruz County residents said they want to know who they can call for help with mental health crises other than law enforcement.
In December 2024, the county’s Mobile Crisis Response Team began operating 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The teams respond to non-violent mental health crises in the county and are dispatched as at least two family therapists, social workers or behavioral interventionists.
Call 1-800-952-2335 to reach a dispatcher in English or Spanish for the Mobile Crisis Response Team.
Mental health crisis resources in Santa Cruz County
Mobile Crisis Response Team
The Mobile Crisis Response Team is run by the County of Santa Cruz and the Family Service Agency of the Central Coast. People who are in mental distress or witnesses of mental crises can call 1-800-952-2335 and a dispatcher can assess the situation in English or Spanish. Calls to 911 or the suicide and crisis line 988 can also sometimes be transferred to the mobile crisis team.
County information on the Mobile Crisis Response Team
- Contact and hours: Call 1-800-952-2335. Responders are available 24 hours.
- Mobile services: If the dispatcher determines it is the appropriate response, a team of at least two family therapists, social workers or behavioral interventionists will respond to a mental health or substance use crisis in Santa Cruz County. The dispatcher can also provide de-escalation tips over the phone.
- Vehicles: The service uses vans and cars. Some vehicles can provide locked transport.
- In-person services: Walk-in crisis services are available 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at county behavioral health offices at 1400 Emeline Ave., Santa Cruz, and 1430 Freedom Blvd., Watsonville.
- Referrals: Some calls to the mobile crisis team may be referred to paramedics or include transportation to the county’s Telecare crisis stabilization unit at 2250 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. Some calls may be referred to law enforcement, including if there is an immediate danger or violent situation such as an individual wielding a weapon. Staff of the mobile crisis team can offer referrals and therapy from licensed clinicians or peer support providers directly overseen by clinicians.
- Funding and funding sources: The service is free for participants. In 2021, Congress adopted the American Rescue Plan Act, which allowed for mobile crisis intervention services to be covered by Medicaid — and by extension California’s Medi-Cal. Mobile crisis services must be available at all hours to claim Medi-Cal reimbursement. The previous, non-24-hour response team was funded by grants, state and federal money.
- Shortcomings: Critics have said the 1-800 number is not well known by families with mental health patients. Calls 911or the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 may be re-routed to the Mobile Crisis Response Team through dispatchers, though the criteria and guidelines for doing so are still being worked out, said Bill McCabe, CEO of the Family Service Agency of the Central Coast.
A Mobile Crisis Response Team offers 24-hour, non-police response to mental health crises in Santa Cruz County. (County of Santa Cruz)
Other mental health resources in Santa Cruz County
Homeless Persons Health Project
The Homeless Persons Health Project provides mental health care and medical care to individuals and families throughout Santa Cruz County. Services are free or on a pay-what-you-can basis and participants do not need health to have insurance. Care is offered at two clinics, through mobile outreach and at pop-up locations.
Behavioral health services include counseling, therapy, psychiatry, and medications to treat opioid use disorder.
Health care services include primary and preventative care, wound care, orthopedic services, acupuncture, hospital visit follow-ups, medication-assisted treatment, vaccinations, pap smears, blood tests, sexual health tests and more. Patients can also be referred to a post-hospitalization respite care center.
Project staff can also help with referrals to shelter, housing, and other programs.
Homeless Persons Health Project website.
- Santa Cruz clinic: The clinic is temporarily at the county services campus at 1080 Emeline Ave., Santa Cruz but is expected to return to its permanent Coral Street location in early March 2025. Call 831-454-2080 on weekdays for more information or to make an appointment. Its hours are:
- 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
- 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-3 p.m. Friday.
- Watsonville clinic: The clinic is at Watsonville Health Center, 1430 Freedom Blvd., Suite B, Watsonville. Call 831-454-2080 on weekdays for more information or to make an appointment.
- Open 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Mobile services: The health team does mobile pop-up clinics and visits areas where people live outdoors throughout the county. Participants can receive medical care, mental health care and referrals. A calendar of planned pop-up locations is on the project’s website.
- Vehicle: The team uses a white van to provide services.
- Number of clients: About 400 clients were served on average each month as of 2023.
- Funding: Federal and county money has supported the program in Santa Cruz County since 1989.
Public Health Nurses Marie DelRosario, left, and Suzanne Samson of the Homeless Persons’ Health Project talk to a man during a visit to a homeless camp on Dakota Avenue in Santa Cruz in April 2021. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local)
The Homeless Persons Health Project offers mental health referrals and some medical services. (Homeless Persons Health Project)
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