The County’s Community Assessment and Transport Team, or CATT, has expanded into Berkeley. Through a hotline that can be reached 24/7 via 911 or 988, its purpose is to respond to mental health and substance use crisis calls throughout Alameda County. 

According to a statement from the city, CATT began service in Berkeley on Sept. 1 after the Specialized Care Unit, or SCU, pilot ended in the spring. 

“The key difference is that you can now call 911 or 988,” said District 4 Councilmember Igor Tregub. “If the caller is experiencing an emergency or is reporting an emergency, the person on the other side … can call if it would be appropriate for CATT intervention.”

CATT is a collaboration between Bonita House, Alameda County Behavioral Health Department, Alameda County Emergency Medical Services and Falck Northern California Emergency Medical Services, according to the statement from the city. 

CATT aims to “decrease unnecessary hospitalizations and police presence” by using a “unique crisis transport model that includes a Behavioral Health Clinician and Emergency Medical Technician responding to police requests in a low-profile vehicle,” according to the Bonita House website.

Tregub noted that another advantage of CATT over previous services such as SCU is the “guaranteed 30-minute response time” from anywhere in the county, including Berkeley. 

“I think CATT provides a really important need for someone who might be facing a crisis,” Tregub said. “We have heard in the past that it would take a long time for the crisis unit to arrive. … Thirty minutes is not immediate but it is more expeditious than what some of my constituents experienced in the past.”

The county still provides services such as the Mobile Crisis Team, according to the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department website, which is available five days a week.

The Mobile Crisis Team responds to mental health and substance use crisis calls, and is supported by two licensed clinicians. The CATT program will expand these services for community members. 

“I look forward to this program succeeding and I am excited that Berkeley is going to be working with the county and Bonita House on this program,” Tregub said.