North Cook News

People experiencing a mental health emergency in Evanston now have a resource to utilize around the clock to get help thanks to the implementation of a new crisis emergency response program. 

Chris Mayer, Clinical Director of Crisis Services at Trilogy Behavioral Health, updated Evanston city council members during a September 27 meeting about the status of this new program. 

"So, for anyone who doesn't know, we're one of a network of mobile crisis response providers that is assigned to Evanston and some nearby communities to provide immediate mobile response mental health services to people in need of that support," Mayer said during the meeting that was posted to the city's YouTube channel. 

Trilogy's crisis services has already started implementing its immediate response to mental health crisis. The Evanston branch of the statewide project has been up and running since January, but as of the end of August began operating on a 24/7 basis. The group meets monthly with a subcommittee tasked with spreading the word about the services it provides. 

Mayer said the group is working to partner with 988, the national crisis hotline for mental health-related issues. He said they've been at a number of community events to spread awareness and have also worked with the city's police department to help educate the community on when to call 911 or 988 and what each service is able to do for them.

The subcommittee's chair also addressed the council to highlight several things, including that Trilogy was awarded the contract for the program by the state and has since hired several English and Spanish-speaking personnel to work a local hotline residents can use, that way the person calling can be connected directly to a local hospital or support system.