Objective

The authors investigated associations between rates of contact with individuals in distress during field visits by mobile crisis teams and client and referral source characteristics.

Methods

In this retrospective observational study of an urban mobile crisis program, call logs (N=2,581) were coded for whether an attempted field visit resulted in a client evaluation. Logistic regression analyses examined potential associations with client age, gender, race-ethnicity, primary language, living situation, insurance, and referral source.

Results

Contact was made with 77% of adults and 97% of children referred to mobile crisis teams. Field visit contact rates differed by age. Unsuccessful visits were more likely when the referral source was from institutional settings than from individuals.

Conclusions

Approximately one-quarter of attempted field visits with adults by an urban mobile crisis team were not completed, particularly among referrals from institutional settings. As mobile crisis services proliferate, field visit contact rate could be a key performance metric for these critical services.