PUBLIC PROTECTION COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: November 17, 2025
Subject: A3 (Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime) Program Updates
Submitted For: Dr. Suzanne Tavano, Director of Behavioral Health Services
Department: Health Services
Presenter: Chad Pierce, PsyD, Mental Health Chief of Crisis Services
Referral History:
In November 2020, Contra Costa Health (CCH) brought together a multi-disciplinary team to start the design phase of A3 (Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime). The goal was to figure out the nuts and bolts of the A3 model. The Design Team consisted of people with lived experience, family members, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical responders, behavioral health professionals, improvement advisors, and mobile crisis team members. They worked to develop a caring approach that is culturally and clinically responsible and came up with the A3 vision.
The Design Team also prioritized four areas for the future of the A3 model: (1) A need for help - People can reach the A3 Miles Hall Crisis Call Center multiple ways (e.g., direct line to call center, 911, 988, 211, community health providers, etc.); (2) Someone to talk to - Care begins as soon as a call to the call center is answered. Clinical staff provide support, triage presenting concerns and determine when an in-person response is necessary; (3) Someone to respond - A3 staff will determine the type of response that is appropriate for each situation. Mobile teams are dispatched to address the crisis and provide care and (4) A place to go - People may need a place to go for additional support (e.g. PES, YSU, ED, alternative destination, etc.). Once a team is on site, they may determine a person in crisis needs more support.
A3 includes the Miles Hall Crisis Call Center, mobile crisis teams, a rapid access outpatient clinic and a peer respite center. The need for A3 is based on research showing that behavioral health challenges are widespread and increasingly recognized as a major area of need: (1) about 1 in 5 people in Contra Costa County experience behavioral health challenges, (2) behavioral health challenges are the third most common call ambulances respond to in the county and (3) every year, there are more than 8,000 visits to psychiatric emergency services in the county. When someone experiences a crisis - a fire, crime, or medical emergency - they call 911 with the expectation of getting immediate emergency services. However, when that emergency is a behavioral health crisis, there was no timely, culturally and clinically appropriate response. A3 addresses this enormous need by making behavioral health part of the emergency response system.
A3 currently operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A3 dispatches on average 23 field teams per day. A3 continues implementation by hiring and training team members, improving technology, refining the call triage process and collaborating with partners on training and responding to crises. A3 continues to refine processes and cultivate our partnerships with other providers.
On May 19, 2025, Contra Costa Health Services provided a report to the Committee on its mobile crisis teams and the status of the clinic and peer respite center that were at that time under construction. The Committee asked Health staff to return to the Committee later in the year with additional program data, including housing and other supportive service client needs if available.
Referral Update:
Please see the attached presentation.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE the report from Contra Costa Health Services with additional information and data on the A3 (Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime) program.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
There is no fiscal impact - this report is informational.