Alternative Mobile Services Association Newsletter

ATLANTA - The Center for Diversion and Services tries to help struggling Atlantans stay out of jail. Is it working?(Atlanta) Plans for this facility began in 2021 as a coordinated effort between multiple public and private groups, including the City of Atlanta, Grady Health Systems, and the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD).

National report shows Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers reach 40% of U.S. counties About 3.4 million people received care from a certified community behavioral health center in 2025 — a 13% increase from 2024. REPORT - 2026 CCBHC Impact Report SACRAMENTO - Reimagining Emergency Care In California (Sacamento Observer) Facing massive federal funding cuts & chronic ER overcrowding, NorCal health leaders & community organizations launch innovative alternative care models.

AMSA welcomes Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) to our Association! LEAP began in 2002 as an effort to mobilize voices of law enforcement to highlight and criticize the harms caused by the War on Drugs. LEAP directed policy makers and the public to carefully consider where we were erroneously seeing public health issues as law enforcement matters. This mission naturally brought LEAP into the work of visioning and supporting alternative responses.

AMSA and The Carter Center had prepared for months to meet with mobile crisis providers and agencies interested in alternative response models in Atlanta last week. The agenda for the in-person gathering highlighted successful program models, and future political or legislative agendas. Turn out was good with practitioners as variant as Chatham County (Savannah), Benchmark, the Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative, and Behavioral Health Link attending.

SANTA FE - City’s struggling Alternative Response Unit set for an overhaul(New Mexican) Alternative Response Unit case manager Felina Ortega, right, hands a backpack to Lupe Grajeda. Created in 2021 to provide support for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents, Santa Fe’s Alternative Response Unit has seen a significant decline in call volume, employees and case loads in the years since it was launched.

Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center Date/Time: August 18 Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: TBD, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT SAN FRANCISCO - Fire dept. quietly announced it will cut peer counselors from street crisis teams(Mission Local) These Peers Provided Alternative 911 Responders.

Originally the “Visiting Nurse Service of New York”, VNS Health traces its public health roots all the way back to 1893. “That’s longer than the subway system, before the Yankees and only 10 years after the Brooklyn Bridge opened.” The VNS behavioral health mobile crisis program is quite mature as well, having begun operation in 1988, making it a 38 year old program. For over two decades, this program was the only non-hospital mobile crisis operation in New York City.

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: September 15, 3:00 PM PT, facilitated by Andre Miller Data Special Interest Group Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: August 19, 2026 10:00 AM PT ATLANTA - Georgia’s new mental health law reshapes community clinics, expands crisis response...

Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: September 16, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: July 24, 2:00 PM CT, facilitated by Alexander Heaton Oregon State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: TODAY July 21, 3:00 PM...

Welcome new AMSA members VNS Health, Cognitive Justice, Ohio State University Division of Health Management and Policy Georgia State Collective - Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: July 31, 10:00 AM ET Upcoming in-person meeting in Atlanta at The Carter Center Date/Time: August 18 - Logistical details to come Facilitated by Dietra Hawkins TOMORROW - Colorado State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time: July 15, 3:00 pm MT, facilitated by Samantha Bunecke Illinois State Collective Sign-up: ZOOM Date/Time:...