New Mobile Crisis Teams Bring Rapid Youth Support to Holmes County
Ohio expands its Mobile Response and Stabilization Services program statewide today, making rapid, free in person crisis support available to children and teens in Holmes County through the Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties. This service connects callers who reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline with trained teams that travel to homes, schools or other safe locations, reducing reliance on emergency rooms and 911 responses.
The Ohio Mobile Response and Stabilization Services program expands statewide today, and the Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties is now a designated regional provider serving local families. The program offers rapid, at no cost response for children and adolescents experiencing behavioral or mental health crises. Callers can contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and request MRSS, after which a trained team including a licensed clinician travels to the home, school or another safe location, typically within 60 minutes.
Locally the Counseling Center has been providing these services since 2022 and reports average response times near 27 minutes. Teams provide immediate stabilization supports and can continue follow up services for up to about six weeks, giving families short term options to stay safely together while arranging longer term care when needed. The statewide expansion aims to make MRSS available in all 88 Ohio counties, and regional providers are expected to deliver 24/7 mobile response by April 2028.
Public health experts and local staff say the model changes how communities respond to youth crises by offering an alternative to law enforcement and emergency rooms. On the ground stabilizing care can reduce trauma, limit avoidable hospital admissions, and help young people reengage with school and family life. For rural communities such as much of Holmes County, having a team arrive quickly can be the difference between a brief interruption and a prolonged emergency that disrupts schooling and work for caregivers.
The expansion carries broader implications for health equity and local policy. Rural counties often face shortages of mental health professionals, transportation barriers, and longer waits for emergency psychiatric care. Mobile response teams that bring clinicians into community settings address some of those structural gaps, but local advocates caution that sustained funding, workforce development and coordination with schools and primary care will be necessary to translate this promise into consistent access.
For families and school staff, MRSS adds a practical option at the point of crisis. Instead of defaulting to calling 911 or taking a child to an emergency department, callers can dial 988 and request a mobile response that aims to deescalate the situation and connect the family with follow up supports. As the state rolls out the program across all counties, Holmes County leaders and providers will be watching how response times, service capacity and linkage to ongoing care evolve, and how the program contributes to reducing disparities in mental health access for children and teens in the community.
