Marcus Alert

WHAT IS MARCUS ALERT?

Marcus Alert enhances services for people experiencing a crisis related to mental health, substance use, or developmental disability. Marcus Alert creates coordination between 911 and regional crisis call centers and establishes a specialized behavioral health response from law enforcement when responding to a behavioral health situation.

Locally, our Marcus Alert efforts are guided by our Mission Group and Implementation Groups. The Implementation Workgroup included first responders, 911 dispatchers, Community Services staff, magistrates, and local hospitals. Our Marcus Alert Mission Group met to discuss the communication and outreach efforts promoting the components of our Marcus Alert response and assists with disseminating information to community members. The Mission Group consists of Community Services staff, concerned residents, CS Board members, mental health professionals in private practice and non-profit organizations, faith-based organizations, and first responders.

For more information on Marcus Alert: CLICK HERE

Greater Prince William Crisis Response Services

Behavioral Health Emergency Services:

Community Services provides emergency crisis intervention services for persons experiencing a behavioral health crisis within Greater Prince William County. Crisis intervention services are provided at two locations within Prince William County. Anyone seeking emergency crisis intervention for themselves, a family member, or friend can walk into one of the two community services locations within the county. Both scheduled and walk-in services are available at the Manassas and Woodbridge offices from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; and Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Residents can also contact the emergency services program by phone at 703-792-7800 (TTY: 711) in Manassas or 703-792-4900 (TTY: 711) in Woodbridge.

Co-Responder Teams:

Community Services has partnered with the Prince William County Police Department to form six teams that each consist of a mental health professional and a crisis intervention trained officer. If a resident within Prince William County contacts 911 for emergent assistance and is experiencing a behavioral health emergency, a first responder will be dispatched, and when available, 911 will dispatch a Co-responder Unit to respond on scene. The mental health professional will be able to provide crisis intervention on scene and connect the person to appropriate resources to minimize a future crisis.

From November 2020 to March 2022 the Co-responder teams have responded to approximately 900 calls for service. Out of those 900 calls,88% of the persons in crisis were able to be diverted from custody.

Outreach and Engagement Teams:

The outreach and engagement team provides non-emergent follow-up for residents within Greater Prince William County who have had a first responder interaction due to a behavioral health emergency. Referrals to this team will come from Law Enforcement and Fire/Rescue when they have determined that connection to local resources could assist a resident with minimizing a future crisis. The team will make contact with the resident and work with them to identify and connect to needed resources.

Regional Crisis Call Center:

A regional crisis call center has been established within Northern Virginia to provide mental health support to those experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Local 911 centers will transfer behavioral health-related calls that do not require a first responder to the regional crisis call center where a mental health professional will work with the caller to manage the current crisis and connect them to resources to minimize a future crisis.

Voluntary Database

Our local 911 call centers have established online programs that allow residents within Greater Prince William to provide information that may be helpful for a first responder to know when responding to you or your home. This information is provided voluntarily and can be viewed by the 911 call taker when you call 911. The more information a first responder has when responding to your crisis, the better they can help.

We encourage anyone that resides within Greater Prince William to sign up for both online programs being utilized by our 911 call centers. This will ensure that no matter where you are calling from within Greater Prince William the call taker will receive this vital information when you need assistance.