 |
|
6/24/2026
|
President Lawson, Rep. Casimiro bill to codify youth crisis response services signed into law
|
 STATE HOUSE — Legislation sponsored by Senate President Valarie J. Lawson and Rep. Julie A. Casimiro to codify Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) has been signed into the law. The bill, which was part of the Senate’s 17-bill package of healthcare legislation, aims to provide stability and predictability for a program that has been proven to improve outcomes for Rhode Island children experiencing mental and behavioral health crises.
“For the well-being of our communities, and the future of our state, it is imperative that we do everything in our power to ensure the stability and sustainability of our health system, and to make essential care both accessible and affordable for every Rhode Islander. This is especially true for our children experiencing a crisis,” said President Lawson (D-Dist. 14, East Providence). “Trained mobile crisis response clinicians are best able to handle local mental health emergencies, to deescalate crises and to provide the onsite counseling and follow-up needed to keep youth safe and out of emergency rooms. Mobile crisis response provides better outcomes for youth in crisis while reducing the strain on emergency departments, and this law will provide a stable future for this invaluable program.”
Youth mobile crisis response and stabilization services provide trained behavioral health clinicians in response to behavioral health crisis calls, who are better able than local emergency medical services to deescalate crises and provide the crisis counseling and follow-up needed to keep youth out of emergency rooms. This provides better patient outcomes for youth in crisis and reduces the strain on overburdened emergency departments.
“Quite simply, this law is about requiring that when a child is in crisis they receive help, not handcuffs or an unnecessary emergency room visit,” said Representative Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter). “For children and youth experiencing a behavioral health crisis, mobile crisis response is the evidence-based best practice that allows trained behavioral health professionals to treat children in in their homes, their schools and their communities. The data is clear: the program works. This law meets the urgent need for a children’s crisis response system in Rhode Island by establishing a sustainable statewide program that families can rely on.”
The Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services began a MRSS pilot program in late 2022. Between October 2024 and October 2025, providers fielded 849 MRSS cases, and 80% of cases were successfully stabilized in the community and connected to ongoing behavioral health care.
Last year the General Assembly passed a law to require private insurers to cover youth MRSS in Rhode Island, and the General Assembly also recently advanced legislation to strengthen this coverage. President Lawson and Representative Casimiro’s legislation (2026-S 3066Baa, 2026-H 8180Aaa), in coordination with these acts, will finally take youth MRSS from an expanding pilot program to a permanent statewide clinical service with the structure, support and funding necessary to run in perpetuity. The state budget (2026-H 7127Aaa) provides for the program’s coverage by Medicaid by appropriating $900,000 in Fiscal Year 2027.
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
|
|