First Call for Help to take over Cook County mobile crisis response

Cook County Public Health and Human Services voted at its May meeting to transfer mobile crisis response services to First Call for Help, an organization that specializes in the state-mandated services.

Cook County previously provided mobile crisis response services with in-house staff. A temporary worker staffed the phone line Monday through Thursday, while evenings and weekends were covered through the telehealth service Brightwater.

“I think it would be ideal to have weekend in-person coverage, overnight in-person coverage,” Public Health and Human Services Director Grace Grinager told the board, “but we just have not found staffing to support that.”

The county hopes First Call for Help’s infrastructure and experience will strengthen support for the community.

“First call for help really specializes in mobile crisis response and has a long, successful history of providing that service in northern Minnesota,” Grinager told WTIP.

First Call for Help plans to maintain the county’s current model while building a more robust in-person team.

“So while we’re building a more robust in-person team, we will be using the current structure that is providing services right now to Cook County residents,” First Call for Help Executive Director Cre Larson told WTIP. “We have a goal by the end of September to have a team identified, hired, trained, ready for triage and dispatch in place.”

While services are transitioning to First Call for Help, the number residents use to seek help will remain the same.

“988 is still the cleanest path to get help, and regardless of who is actually employing the responder, there will be a response available,” Grinager told WTIP.

First Call for Help plans to visit Cook County in June to meet with community health and mental health partners. It will be the organization’s third visit to the county.

First Call for Help was established in 1974 as a crisis line, predating Minnesota’s mobile crisis response mandate. Larson said Minnesota is more progressive on mental health services than many other states.

The organization currently serves 47 counties and is headquartered in Itasca County.

“Cook is even more remote than Itasca County. The population is different, and the distance in between communities is a little more drastic than Itasca,” Larson told WTIP. “But we do have other counties like Cook, and the mobile crisis services can be effective, built and impactful.”

Larson said she does not believe in “cookie-cutter” approaches to mobile crisis services and that First Call for Help plans to build a team tailored to Cook County’s specific needs.

WTIP spoke to Larson about the history of First Call for Help and their plans to support Cook County. The audio of that conversation can be found here.

Josh Hinke June 5, 2026