Kingston launches Mobile Mental Health pilot program

Kingston Mayor Steven T. Noble has announced that his city has launched a Mobile Mental Health pilot program.

The program, which is coordinated in conjunction with Ulster County and Access: Support for the Living, will pair a mental health care specialist with a Kingston Fire Department Emergency Medical Technician to staff a mobile response unit. The Mobile Mental Health response team of social worker and EMT will have a dedicated ambulance and will provide person-centric crisis response to mental health emergency calls.

The team will work weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and will respond to calls within Kingston.

“We are proud to launch this new service as the first municipality upstate to implement a mobile mental health program,” said Noble. “We recognized that, with the growing mental health crisis, the need to provide more specialized services for our residents. With our highly trained fire department and a mental health professional, we will be able to provide the support our community needs in situations that would have previously involved law enforcement.”

Photo courtesy City of Kingston