Santa Rosa’s inRESPONSE program has handled nearly 6,000 mental health crisis calls a year without sending armed police — but the state funding that helped build it may vanish by 2027.
Key Takeaways
- Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $348.9 billion state budget would eliminate dedicated state funding for mobile mental health crisis response teams starting in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
- Santa Rosa’s inRESPONSE program, launched in January 2022, operates 24/7 and handled nearly 6,000 calls in 2024.
- Sonoma County also runs the SAFE Team (serving Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, and Sonoma State) and a Mobile Support Team for unincorporated areas.
- The state shift would transfer roughly $130 million in annual costs to counties statewide; Sonoma County has partial protection through voter-approved Measure O funds.
- Critics warn the move would force rural and low-income counties to shut down programs entirely, pushing crisis response back to police and emergency rooms.
What the budget cut would mean locally
Since its launch in January 2022, inRESPONSE has become central to how Santa Rosa handles mental health emergencies. The program deploys licensed behavioral health clinicians, paramedics, and outreach specialists — not armed officers — to crisis calls around the clock. By 2024 it was fielding nearly 6,000 calls a year. Two companion programs extend similar coverage across the county: the SAFE Team serves Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, and Sonoma State University, while the county’s Mobile Support Team covers unincorporated areas.
Under Newsom’s proposed 2026-27 budget, the state would redesignate mobile crisis response from a mandatory Medi-Cal benefit to an optional one — effectively shifting the full non-federal cost burden to counties. The enhanced federal Medicaid match (85%) that has covered most of the expense since 2022 is also set to expire March 31, 2027, reverting to the standard 50% rate. That double hit — losing state funds and absorbing a steeper federal cost-share — would force local budget decisions with no painless answers.
Sonoma County has more cushion than most — but not unlimited
Sonoma County has more insulation than many California counties. Voters approved Measure O in 2020, a quarter-cent sales tax generating roughly $30 million annually for mental health, substance use, and homeless services through 2031. The county has already committed nearly $6 million in Measure O dollars to sustain its crisis teams through June 2026. As the county weighs competing demands during ongoing budget workshops held amid widening federal funding cuts, preserving crisis response will require an explicit political choice — and Measure O is not unlimited.
Smaller counties face a bleaker picture. Lake County’s nine-person mobile team, launched in 2023, stands to lose up to $1.2 million annually — roughly 5% of its entire mental health budget. April Giambra, Lake County’s clinical deputy director for mental health, told the Press Democrat the teams prevent hospitalization or incarceration in about 90% of cases. Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the California Behavioral Health Directors Association, warned bluntly that many counties “are going to have to shut down all or part of mobile crisis response.”
Lakeport Police Chief Dale Stoebe offered the sharpest counterargument to the proposed cuts: “It’s a recipe for disaster forcing cops to be the only responders to crises.”
The Press Democrat’s editorial board, writing April 19, called the programs “a success” and urged state lawmakers to restore the funding before it disappears. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which has already expanded access to social services in underserved areas, will face pressure to act if Sacramento does not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will inRESPONSE shut down if the state cuts funding?
Not immediately, and possibly not in Sonoma County. Measure O — the voter-approved quarter-cent sales tax generating $30 million a year through 2031 — provides a local funding cushion. However, county supervisors would need to explicitly direct those dollars to the crisis teams, and competing demands for Measure O funds are significant. The state funding cut would take effect in the 2027-28 budget year if Newsom’s proposal passes as written.
How do I reach inRESPONSE or another local crisis team?
Santa Rosa’s inRESPONSE line is 707-575-4357. The Sonoma County Mobile Support Team for unincorporated areas is at 800-746-8181. The SAFE Team covers Petaluma (707-781-1234), Rohnert Park (707-584-2612), and Cotati/Sonoma State (707-792-4611). All programs operate 24/7.
What happens to people who rely on these teams if they shut down?
Mental health advocates say crisis response would revert largely to law enforcement and hospital emergency rooms — typically more expensive and less effective for people in psychiatric distress. The California Behavioral Health Directors Association estimates that eliminating the programs statewide would shift $130 million annually onto counties, while driving up downstream costs in jails, ERs, and emergency police responses that the mobile teams currently divert.
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