When Rochelle Montes moved her family to Columbus, they were still unpacking boxes when her teenage son, Deklan, hit a serious mental-health crisis. Instead of racing to the emergency room or calling police, a mobile crisis team showed up at their front door, helped calm the chaos and stayed long enough to link the family with follow-up care and peer support. The experience rattled them, but it also pushed Montes to launch a TikTok channel called "Sensory Mom" so she could share tips and resources with other caregivers caught in the same storm.
Montes told WSYX that the help came fast at a moment when it felt like everything was falling apart. "When we were in the crisis, it was extremely overwhelming and terrifying," she said. The team arrived quickly, brought both a clinician and a support person, and helped the household work through concrete "next steps" once the immediate danger had passed.
What MRSS Does
Mobile Response and Stabilization Services, or MRSS, send clinician-led teams to a child's home, school or another safe spot to handle mental-health crises where they are happening. Staff work to de-escalate the situation, build a safety plan and plug families into longer-term supports so they are not left guessing what comes after the emergency visit.
Nationwide Children's operates the MRSS program in Franklin County and reports that teams aim to arrive within 60 minutes for urgent calls. Once they are involved, they can keep providing stabilization services for up to 42 days. The goal is to keep kids and teens out of the emergency department when possible and to reduce situations where law enforcement gets pulled into a mental-health crisis.
How To Get Help
Families looking for the same type of support can call, text or chat the 988 Lifeline and ask specifically for MRSS. The national site notes that 988 is available around the clock to connect callers with local crisis resources in their own communities.
State materials explain that MRSS is a no-cost service for young people 20 and under. Where the program is operating, it may also be reached through Ohio's MRSS call center at 1-888-418-MRSS. The Ohio MHAS fact sheet offers additional details on how the service works across the state.
Family Outcome And Community Support
Looking back, Montes told WSYX that the crisis response helped change the trajectory for her son. Deklan has since graduated from high school and is now attending the University of Cincinnati. He also runs a social-media project that reviews businesses from a disability perspective.
Montes said the peer contact during the MRSS visit - not just the clinical support - made a lasting impact. Having someone who had been through similar experiences sit in her living room, she said, made it easier to focus on what to do next instead of freezing in fear.
Why Parents Say It Matters
Parents and clinicians say that MRSS's in-home approach - calming a crisis, offering peer support and connecting kids quickly to therapy or other services - often keeps young people safely in their communities instead of in hospital settings.
Nationwide Children's highlights the program's close work with local agencies, including collaboration with the Columbus Police Department when that is appropriate. The hospital also notes that MRSS is free to families, a detail Montes says can be the difference between reaching out for help and trying to ride out a terrifying situation alone.
