Mobile Crisis Tools for Tribal Providers and Community Partners
This page features a compilation of four specialized resources strategically crafted to enhance mobile crisis services in Tribal and Urban Indian communities. These tools are designed to honor and reflect the rich histories and cultural contexts of these communities while promoting core values such as cultural humility and local knowledge.
These resources offer practical frameworks for 988 crisis services and mobile crisis responders, enabling them to assess community readiness, facilitate smooth transitions in care, and engage with Tribal leadership respectfully and collaboratively. By integrating culturally grounded approaches, these tools empower both responders and community leaders to develop and sustain effective crisis response programs that prioritize safety, trust, and overall well-being across California.
Self-Reflection and Cultural Understanding Tool for Mobile Crisis Responders
This self-guided reflection and learning tool is designed to help 988 crisis services and mobile crisis responders deepen their understanding of local Tribal communities. The guide promotes cultural humility, highlights place-based awareness, and addresses knowledge gaps.
This tool will support responders in learning about the Tribal histories, cultural contexts, and present-day realities of Native people in their service areas. It also offers resources for further research into the local Tribes and scenarios that create knowledge opportunities for respectful engagement.
In addition to being a resource for ongoing professional development, the tool is designed to serve as a foundational component of onboarding and training programs. By integrating this resource early in a mobile crisis responder’s career, agencies can promote consistent, culturally grounded practices across their teams.
Strengthening Continuity of Care in Tribal Communities
This tool is designed for Tribal communities, mobile crisis teams, and county partners working to enhance crisis response pathways. It affirms Tribal sovereignty and recognizes culturally congruent care approaches that work best for each community.
The framework provides a structured mapping process that visualizes how community members move from crisis identification through aftercare treatment, with special attention to transitions between settings such as emergency departments, schools, and Tribal health programs. It specifically acknowledges the vital roles of natural helpers, traditional healers, and peer supporters within the community’s system of care.
Developed for both rural and Urban Indian populations, this resource helps teams identify gaps in current practices, strengthen connections between providers, and ensure warm handoffs throughout the crisis journey. The mapping process builds upon—rather than replaces—existing cultural strengths and community resources.
Tuchily Healing Hearts: Case Study and Reflection Tool
Tribal communities often experience critical gaps in crisis response when conventional county services are not culturally aligned or readily accessible. Many county-based mobile crisis teams strive to be inclusive, but few models fully integrate Tribal language, Native traditions, and the trust that has been established within local relationships.
Created by the Pala Band of Mission Indians Social Services Department, Tuchily Healing Hearts, was developed to address these gaps with a Tribally led, culturally informed mobile crisis response team. This approach ensures that Native families receive respectful, wraparound care in moments of crisis, while effectively engaging county partners and first responders.
Kauffman and Associates, Inc., and the Center for Applied Research Solutions have collaboratively documented this effort in a case study tool to guide other Tribes, counties, and mobile crisis teams interested in developing or strengthening Tribally driven crisis services.
Crisis Response Readiness Checklist for Tribal and Urban Indian Communities
This tool is a voluntary resource for California Indian Health Care Providers (IHCPs) and Tribal or Urban Indian communities. It respects Tribal sovereignty and autonomy by recognizing each community’s unique traditional crisis response practices as valid, effective, and rooted in cultural strength.
Formalizing services into a Medi-Cal mobile crisis team is entirely voluntary and should only be applied if it reflects the community’s goals and vision. Effective crisis response builds on—rather than replaces—existing cultural strengths.
This checklist provides a simple framework to guide that process: assembling a planning team, reflecting on readiness indicators, documenting unique community considerations, and sharing findings with Tribal leadership for direction and decision-making.