Memphis Added a Mental Health Option to 911. Here's What It Means for Your Family.
- Alliance Healthcare Services
- Aug 27
- 5 min read
The city announced the change on August 26. Here's what happens when you choose it — and which number to call when.
Something changed this week for every family in Memphis.
When you call 911, you used to choose police, fire, or EMS. Now there is a fourth choice: mental health.
The City of Memphis announced the new option on Wednesday, August 26. Mayor Paul Young put the reason simply: "not every emergency is the same."
What actually happens when you choose it
Choosing the mental health option does not put you on hold or send you somewhere else. It tells the person answering what kind of emergency this is, right at the start.
From there, the call is passed to the Fire Department side, where a dispatcher asks another set of questions to identify what is happening and what else may be going on.
City officials described the mental health response as a paramedic paired with a licensed clinical social worker from Alliance, in service 12 hours a day. Outside those hours, an ambulance is dispatched.
A family in crisis no longer has to explain, from the hardest moment of their week, why a standard emergency response is the wrong fit.
Police Chief C.J. Davis said the option does two things: it sends the right people, and it shortens the wait, because everyone arrives together instead of an officer arriving first and calling for mental health support afterward.
The city has been building this for six to seven months and ran a soft launch in July before this week's announcement.
"Mental health crisis" is broader than you think
This is where most people hesitate. Many picture only a psychiatric emergency, and decide their situation does not qualify.
The city's definition is wide. Mayor Paul Young described it as covering a mental health crisis, substance use, or emotional crisis. The roughly 25,000 calls a year Memphis police respond to under this umbrella include overdoses and suicide calls, not only psychiatric emergencies.
You also do not have to wait for a situation to become an emergency before asking for help.
What if you pick the wrong option?
You will not be penalized for guessing, and you will not be sent back to the beginning.
Sean Lovejoy of the Emergency Communications Bureau explained that call takers are trained to work it out with you through a series of questions. People in crisis often cannot say precisely what they need, and dispatchers are trained for exactly that.
One thing matters more than picking the right option: give your location. With a location, help can be sent even if nothing else about the call is clear yet.
Dispatchers also now use a dedicated caller-in-crisis protocol designed to keep someone talking and supported while responders are on the way.
Which number should you call?
This is the question we hear most, and the honest answer is that it depends on one thing: does someone need to come to you?
Someone is in danger right now, or needs help on scene — call 911 and choose the mental health option
You need to talk to someone — counseling, resources, no one needed on scene — call or text 988
You want to reach Alliance directly, day or night — (901) 577-9400, our 24-Hour Crisis Line
You are ready to start ongoing care — (901) 369-1410 for an appointment
City officials made the same distinction this week. EMS Deputy Sean Lovejoy noted that many calls "may not require an emergency response" — people are often looking for an outlet or resources, which is exactly what 988 is built for.
None of these numbers replaced any other one. 911 added a door. Every other door is still open.
Why Memphis, of all places, did this first
This is not the first time Memphis rebuilt how a city answers a mental health emergency. It is the second. And the first time changed the whole country.
On September 24, 1987, a Memphis mother called 911 because her son needed help.
Joseph DeWayne Robinson was 27 years old and living with schizophrenia. Officers arrived at the LeMoyne Gardens housing project, and they shot and killed him. He was Black; the officers were white.
The city erupted. Then it did something unusual with that anger.
The mayor brought together the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), police, mental health providers, hospitals, universities, and clergy. What they built in 1988 was the Crisis Intervention Team. Patrol officers specially trained to recognize a mental health crisis, de-escalate it, and route people to treatment instead of jail.
It became known as the Memphis Model, and police departments across the country adopted it.
But a model only works if there is somewhere to route people to. That has been Alliance's part of the story. Our predecessor organization began working alongside CIT in 2009 and opened its first walk-in crisis center. Alliance Healthcare Services was formed in 2013.
In March 2025 we opened the Crisis Wellness Center on Broad Avenue — 30 crisis beds, 15 detox beds, and an on-site pharmacy, open around the clock. Last year, Alliance clinicians completed more than 11,500 crisis assessments, about 32 a day, every day of the year.
When Joseph Robinson's mother called for help in 1987, there was no right option to ask for. Thirty-nine years later, choosing one is the first thing Memphis asks you to do.
Alliance's role alongside first responders
Announcing the new option, Mayor Paul Young said the city has one primary mental health partner for the fourth option: Alliance.
That partnership is not new. Alliance clinicians have worked next to Memphis first responders on crisis calls for years, and the city describes an Alliance licensed clinical social worker riding with a paramedic on the mental health response.
Two of our teams put a clinician on the scene rather than leaving officers to handle a medical situation alone:
C.A.R.E. Team — a licensed mental health professional pairs with an MPD Crisis Intervention Team officer and a paramedic
SAFE Team — a licensed mental health professional pairs with a Shelby County Sheriff's deputy
Both descend directly from the Memphis Model. The idea is the same one Memphis had in 1988: the right responder matters as much as a fast one.
The city defines how the new option works, and we are proud to support it. What has not changed is everything else: Alliance answers its own crisis line 24 hours a day, and the Crisis Wellness Center takes walk-ins with no appointment and no insurance required.
What to do before you ever need this
The best time to learn these numbers is a day when nothing is wrong.
Save (901) 577-9400 in your phone under "Crisis," alongside 988
Tell one other person in your household that 911 now has a mental health option
Learn the warning signs of a mental health crisis so you recognize one early
Know where to go: the Crisis Wellness Center at 3200 Broad Avenue is open 24/7, walk-ins welcome
Alliance accepts TennCare, Medicare, and most major insurance, and offers sliding-scale fees through the Mental Health Safety Net Program. No one is turned away for inability to pay.
If you or someone you care about is in crisis, help is available now. Alliance 24-Hour Crisis Line: (901) 577-9400 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 If someone needs help on scene, call 911 and choose the mental health option. To start ongoing care, call (901) 369-1410.
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