State House — 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, the Rhode Island Senate has approved legislation sponsored by Senate President Valarie J. Lawson to codify Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) in state law. The bill is part of the Senate’s 17-bill package of healthcare legislation.
“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). “This bill will codify into law a proven and effective program that is already a key component of Rhode Island’s mental health infrastructure. 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 bill will provide a stable future for this invaluable program.”
Youth mobile crisis response and stabilization services (MRSS) 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.
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 Senate recently advanced legislation to strengthen this coverage. President Lawson’s bill (2026-S 3066A), in coordination with these pieces of legislation, would 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. President Lawson’s legislation would provide for the program’s coverage by Medicaid and appropriate $900,000 in Fiscal Year 2027, increasing to $1 million in Fiscal Year 2028, to provide coverage for services to the uninsured and underinsured.
The bill now goes to the House, where Rep. Julie A. Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter) has introduced similar legislation (2026-H 8180).
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