Phoenix (STN) – When a mental health crisis unfolds in Arizona, Solari’s crisis teams are often the ones who answer the call, working to connect people to care without always relying on police or emergency rooms.
During Season 5 of ‘It Happens at STN,’ the STN video team took the audience inside that work through the eyes of Jenny, a clinical supervisor overseeing Solari’s law enforcement services collaboration.
“Solari operates the Arizona statewide crisis system, dispatches crisis mobile teams across the whole state, and operates 988, which is a national suicide lifeline,” Jenny said. She said Solari employs nearly 200 crisis specialists and supervisors who staff the crisis line and support mobile team dispatch, fielding calls from individuals, police, providers, and community members alike.
A closer look at the people behind Arizona’s 988 crisis line
Much of Jenny’s work involves riding alongside law enforcement, an experience she said runs both ways.
“I learned a lot from them, and they learned a lot from me on how to navigate the mental health system,” Jenny said. “They don’t become cops to become counselors. They become cops to protect us from bad guys.”
That collaboration, she said, allows Solari’s team to show officers what additional support is available for the people they encounter in the field, from those with serious mental illness to their families.
To ensure that support reaches the community, Solari works closely with regional health plans like Mercy Care.
“Having Mercy Care as a partner in the community is huge, because the need is out there,” Jenny said, pointing to shared resources like the crisis line and mobile crisis teams as central to supporting law enforcement and residents alike.
The work often means meeting people in some of the hardest moments of their lives, something Jenny said she doesn’t take lightly.
“Working in crisis, we’re helping someone at possibly their lowest moment,” she said. “Being able to go home at the end of the day, reflecting on calls taken or calls supported, and being able to feel that gratitude is something that I am very grateful to be able to do every day.”
