This rule establishes minimum operating standards for Mobile Crisis Response Services and Mobile Response Teams (MRTs) in Florida, requiring 24/7 availability, in-person or telehealth response within 60 minutes of prioritization, and a defined array of crisis services including screening, de-escalation, safety planning, and 72-hour post-crisis care coordination. MRTs must maintain formal agreements with law enforcement, schools, juvenile justice, and other community partners, and must meet specific staffing requirements including a licensed behavioral health professional on-call and a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner on-call. The rule covers individuals of all ages experiencing a behavioral health crisis, with specific provisions for children and adolescents regarding school-based suicide risk assessments.
View official source65E-5.603 Minimum Standards for Mobile Crisis Response Service or Mobile Response Team (MRT). (1) MRTs must provide immediate, behavioral health crisis services to: (a) Focus on crisis diversion and the reduction of involuntary examination (b) Assess the individual for risk of suicidal and homicidal thoughts or behaviors. (c) Assess the individual for mood disturbances such as depression, anxiety, delusional thoughts, or hallucinations that may contribute to and exacerbate the crisis. (d) Identify social and environmental factors that may contribute to escalating the crisis and consider services and supports available to reduce them. (e) Screen for appropriate level of care for a mental health receiving facility, an addiction receiving facility, or a detoxification facility. (2) MRTs must, at a minimum: (a) Ensure that each county has MRT services which are available to individuals of all ages experiencing a behavioral health crisis, in addition to populations specified in s. 394.495, F.S. (b) Be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (c) Ensure the provider agency’s public facing website includes the following: 1.Brief description of MRT services, purpose and contact information; 2.Program description; 3.Counties served. (d) Disseminate program and contact information to the community, electronically, in-person or via paper formats. (e) Triage new requests for MRT intervention to determine the level of severity and prioritize requests that meet the clinical threshold for an in-person response. When the clinical threshold for an in-person response is met, MRTs must respond in-person or via telehealth within 60 minutes after prioritization in the location where the crisis is occurring. Telehealth may be used at the request of the person served or when the MRT determines an onsite response is unsafe, within 60 minutes. (f) Provide an array of crisis-oriented services to any individual in crisis and their families, designed to address their needs, including: 1. Screening and standardized assessments completed for the presence of an emotional disturbance, serious emotional disturbance, substance use, or mental illness including depression, risk for suicide, and risk to harm others. 2. Crisis de-escalation. 3. Safety planning, and connection to community services as necessary to address the immediate crisis event and ongoing behavioral health needs. 4. Care coordination and referral services, for at least 72 hours post crisis intervention including: a. In person or via electronic means to facilitate a warm hand-off to referred services and follow-up services. Warm hand-off means that the MRT provider actively connects the individual to another service provider(s). b. Follow-up on each referral, with the individual or the referred services to determine the outcome and need for additional referrals, services or resources among partnering agencies, stakeholders, providers, families, and caregivers. c. Confirmation that the individual who received the mobile crisis response was connected to a service provider and prescribed medications, if needed. (g) Adhere to standards for informed consent and confidentiality compliance. (h) MRTs that choose to provide transportation to receiving facilities must comply with policies and procedures for transportation in s. 394.462, F.S. (i) Establish formal agreements with the local school district(s) and the Department of Juvenile Justice that identify roles and responsibilities of each party, including obtaining parental consent or consent from minors aged 13 years or older when MRT services are provided by a licensed mental health professional pursuant to s. 394.4784(2), F.S. (j) Establish formal and informal partnerships with key entities providing behavioral health services and supports to individuals and their families to facilitate continuity of care. (k) Establish response protocols through formal agreements such as contracts or Memorandum of Understanding with local law enforcement agencies, 9-1-1 dispatch, 2-1-1 call centers, 9-8-8 Florida Lifeline centers, local community-based care lead agencies, the Department of Juvenile Justice, local schools (including public K-12 schools), colleges, and universities. (3) MRT services exclude: (a) Any emergency medical services. (b) Services performed outside of MRT’s professional scope of practice. (c) On-going behavioral health treatment services. (4) For children and adolescents, MRTs: (a) May accept and consider suicide risk and threat assessments completed on the same day of the response by qualified school board staff pursuant to s. 394.495(3), F.S. and approved by the Florida Department of Education pursuant to s. 1012.583, F.S. (b) Must review suicide risk and threat assessments completed on the same day of the response by qualified school staff pursuant to s. 394.495(3), F.S. If the suicide risk and threat assessments are thoroughly completed and received timely by qualified school staff, the MRT shall utilize such suicide risk and threat assessments to avoid duplicated assessments. (5) Each direct service staff person, at a minimum, must complete training requirements within the first 90 days of hire in the following topics. (a) Crisis de-escalation. (b) Safety planning. (c) Common types of mental health disorders and substance use disorders as well as the respective referral options for further assessment and ongoing services. (d) Baker Act and Marchman Act protocols. (e) Training to meet the specialized needs of older adults. (6) Each MRT must be comprised of the following staff at a minimum: (a) A licensed behavioral health professional must be available via an on-call schedule 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. (b) At least one (1) master’s level professional. (c) At least one (1) Certified Recovery Peer Specialist or someone working towards credentialing. (d) A board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner must be available via an on-call schedule. (7) MRT providers may enroll as Medicaid providers. All MRTs applying for Florida Medicaid enrollment must apply in accordance with the Medicaid enrollment application requirements identified in Rule 59G-1.060, F.A.C., Provider Enrollment Policy. Rulemaking Authority 394.457(5) FS. Law Implemented 394.457, 394.495 FS. History - New 10-20-25.