Washington, D.C.—The District of Columbia Department of Mental Health (DMH) is recruiting applicants for the newly created position of Director of Mobile Crisis Services. The Department is launching the new service for people who require mobile emergency psychiatric care, and the director would be responsible for all start up and ongoing operations.     

The Mobile Crisis Services will be part of the Department’s comprehensive psychiatric emergency program which is a twenty-four hour/seven day a week operation providing psychiatric evaluation, treatment and stabilization, and observation for individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis.  

“We want to get help to people when they need it whether in their homes or on the streets,” said Stephen T. Baron, DMH Director. “Our goal is to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations or even incarcerations.”

The mobile crisis team will provide crisis intervention services, transport individuals to the crisis stabilization facility, if necessary, and make referrals to community-based mental health agencies for ongoing psychiatric care.  

The Director of the Mobile Crisis Services also will be responsible for hiring team members, developing operating procedures, and establishing close working relations with the Emergency Medical Services, Metropolitan Police Department, other District agencies and community providers.  

“This is an opportunity for a person with proven clinical and administrative leadership skills to build a very important program from the ground up,” said Dr. Steven Steury, Chief Clinical Director at the Department of Mental Health. The Department’s goal is to have at least one crisis team on the streets this spring.

Applicants should contact Cynthia Holloway, Director of Crisis and Emergency Services, at cynthia.holloway@dc.gov for more information.