Jennifer MacKinnon sends her team of 31 caregivers throughout Solano County in a fleet of Honda Civics with “Pacific Clinics MOBILE CRISIS” stamped across the side doors. As of April 15, the units respond 24/7 to mental and behavioral health cases.
According to MacKinnon, almost 80 percent of calls end with the individual stabilized, calm, and left with a safety plan — without needing hospitalization or police involvement.
“We are showing hope to people who are sometimes having no hope whatsoever,” says MacKinnon, the mobile crisis associate clinical director at Pacific Clinics. “I hold that very serious, that we are saving lives every day in Solano County.”
Three weeks ago, the mobile crisis unit launched its dedicated phone line at 707-806-0866. Concerned callers can reach them anytime, anywhere in Solano County. A mental health clinician and peer support specialist respond to de-escalate the emergency.
If the person requires extra care, they could be transported to a sobering center, crisis stabilization unit, shelter, or mental health urgent care. Sometimes, law enforcement officers accompany care providers if they agree the situation could be dangerous.
As the mobile unit moved to non-stop service, the Suisun City Police Department gave them office space so the unarmed care providers could work safely overnight.
“The collaboration between the county and us and law enforcement has been wonderfully symbiotic,” says Olivia Loy, the communications manager for Pacific Clinics, which administers the care. “It lessened the burden on jails and on hospitals … we can treat people onsite where they are.”
‘You need buy-in’
Emery Cowan, chief deputy behavioral health director at the Solano County Department of Health and Social Services, adds, “You need buy-in from all law enforcement agencies to get this going and to do it well.”
Cowan said MacKinnon and her team held 40-hour trainings for officers and still meet with departments across the county every other week.
“Our motto is ‘co-response when necessary,’” Cowan says, explaining that they keep open communication with officers, who have become more aware of mental health indicators and care. “Even if we don’t co-respond with officers, at least they know what’s happening and they have people to call.”
The unit is the result of three years of collaboration between county health officials, law enforcement, first responders and Pacific Clinics — a statewide nonprofit that began over 150 years ago. From May 2023 to May 2024, Solano County’s program received 427 calls.
“We are showing hope to people who are sometimes having no hope whatsoever. I hold that very serious, that we are saving lives every day in Solano County.” Jennifer MacKinnon, Pacific Clinics
MacKinnon has worked in mental health care for 22 years and sees cooperation with law enforcement as pivotal to the program’s success. She also praises their model, which pairs a clinician with a support specialist who has relevant lived experience. She explains of their consumers, “They’re more likely to connect with someone who has a similar story as theirs.”
County health officials have not conducted studies into causation, but Solano County could lose fewer people to suicide this year. Cowan says coroners have counted 17 suicides through April 2024. That compares with Solano County seeing 60-62 suicides in 2022 and 2023, a potential reduction of roughly 15 percent if these numbers keep pace for the remainder of the year.
“Most never touched our system, our county behavioral system,” Cowan says of those deaths, adding that her department is expanding its outreach.
The mobile crisis unit first launched on May 3, 2021, in Fairfield and Suisun City.
“Starting a mobile crisis unit during the middle of a pandemic might have not been the best idea,” Cowan laughs. “Mental health workforce was affecting everything — we’re now out of that tunnel, but still have workforce crisis issues.”
Before it became cool
Since 2022, the group has expanded its training and reopened in stages. Its most recent addition was opening 24/7 and providing services to Vacaville and Travis Air Force Base. Their funding comes from both the county and state, through California’s Mental Health Services Act.
“We had hoped that we would have that before it became cool, but now it’s become cool,” says Cowan. She refers to California’s new requirement to provide 24/7 mobile crisis units as a Medi-Cal benefit. Units should be available statewide by July 1.
Solano County’s mobile crisis unit covers roughly 850 square miles, including Benicia, Dixon, Vallejo, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, Travis Air Force Base and unincorporated areas.
MacKinnon describes the anxiety-inducing first days of their direct phone line, “We didn’t have nearly the number of calls we thought we would. It takes time for the community to get the phone number in their hands.”
Non-residents of Solano County can receive care. Anyone who is in the area, even temporarily, can call. Caregivers do not collect identification, documentation, or information about immigration status.
For anyone in Solano County who believes they or someone they know might benefit from mental or behavioral health care, dial 707-806-0866. Callers can also reach the mobile crisis unit through 911 or 988.
