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Clear Pathways, an initiative of Peg’s Foundation, is designed to sustainably align systems to improve care for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis. The Clear Path is a quarterly newsletter that shares the latest developments in behavioral health crisis response across Ohio and the nation. We highlight innovative efforts shaping the future of the field. |
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Dear Victoria,
Behavioral health crisis innovation requires breaking down silos and ensuring that all vested partners are speaking the same language. This quarter, we’re highlighting our work to shape a standard definition and payment approach for adult mobile response services in Ohio. By working across 20 counties, we’re ensuring that our efforts are representative and well-informed.
Read on to learn more about this critical initiative, check out our new research, and meet our new Assistant Director of Community Partnerships.
As a new offering to the field and our friends around the state, we welcome your feedback on our newsletter. Please send your thoughts, relevant events, and crisis system transformation resources to our editorial team at
clearpathways@pegsfoundation.org.
In partnership,
Alicia D. Smith, Clear Pathways Executive Director
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Pathways to Impact: The Mobile Crisis Response Pilot
Clear Pathways is working to ensure sustainable funding for adult mobile response (i.e., mobile crisis) services by defining standard service models and payment approaches. We have partnered with behavioral health providers across 20 Ohio counties and are engaged in a three-phase approach.
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Phase I: Best Practices Assessment gathers critical insights about providers’ mobile response programs and assesses alignment with national best practices.
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Phase II: Cost Analysis analyzes the cost of operating mobile response services and includes readiness activities to ensure providers can participate in value-based payment arrangements, including the use of alternative payment models (APMs).
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Phase III: APM Pilot Implementation launches the Clear Pathways APM mobile crisis pilot with selected Ohio Medicaid managed care entities.
Phase I of our work is nearly complete. We have conducted 11 provider interviews to learn more about their services and operations. Each provider will receive a detailed report that summarizes their services and offers actionable recommendations to support further alignment with national crisis care best practices. We will soon begin analyzing the qualitative data from these interviews and are hosting a Close-Out session with all 11 providers to discuss common themes.
We are now launching Phase II. In this phase, providers will receive training on tools to assess provider staffing models, costs, and revenues related to adult mobile crisis services. These tools will standardize data collection and analysis for individual providers as well as across providers.
Check out our fact sheet below to learn more about this critical work.
Want to learn more about this work? Email our team at mobilecrisis@pegsfoundation.org.
| | | Strengthening Ohio’s Payment Approach for Sustainable Adult Mobile Response Services | This fact sheet updates our previously published resource outlining Clear Pathways’ payment strategy for sustainable adult mobile response services. Clear Pathways is partnering with behavioral health providers across 20 Ohio counties to define standard service models and payment approaches for adult mobile response services. Learn more about our three-phased, community-oriented approach. | | Bringing 911/988 Interoperability to Scale | This brief, the second in a three-part series, provides strategies for bringing 911/988 interoperability to scale. During the Crisis Response Pilot, Clear Pathways collaborated with five Ohio sites to develop or expand warm transfer criteria from 911 to 988. This process revealed opportunities for how 988 can support 911 callers. Opportunities include developing leadership approval processes, prioritizing technology investments, and more. Learn more about the recommendations and their anticipated benefits. | |
This August! Measuring Progress: Data Collection and Evaluation for 911/988 Interoperability
August 28, 2025, 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET
Join us for our final webinar of a three-part series exploring findings from Clear Pathways’ Crisis Response Pilot for 911 public safety answering points (PSAPs) and 988 call centers.
This session focuses on evaluating 911/988 interoperability and using metrics to support continuous quality improvement among the partners. Participants will hear key findings from Mathematica’s evaluation of the pilot, including common data reporting challenges and recommendations to strengthen future evaluation and implementation efforts.
Catch up with parts one and two in the Clear Pathways’ resource library!
| | | Insights and Innovations: New Research | |
A new article in the Milbank Quarterly explores funding sources for mental health crisis services. These include 988 telecom fees and other state appropriations, community mental health services block grants, and other federal funding streams, Medicaid, and commercial insurance.
This article was co-authored by Assistant Director of Policy and Sustainability David Frederick, MSAH, and our partners, Drs. Jonathan Purtle and Amanda Mauri, NYU School of Global Public Health.
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Clear Pathways in Motion: Community Success
Peg’s Foundation President & CEO Rick Kellar, MBA; Clear Pathways Executive Director Alicia D. Smith, MHA; and Assistant Director of Policy and Sustainability David J. Frederick, MSAH, attended the ribbon cutting and soft opening of the Franklin County Crisis Care Center in May. The Franklin County Crisis Care Center offers behavioral health urgent care, nursing services, and medical clearance, a crisis observation wing, a separate drop-off for first responders, pharmacy services, a family resource center, and more. Congratulations to the Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Board of Franklin County on this incredible achievement!
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Please join us in welcoming Katie Cretella, MBA, MSEd, LPCC, to the Clear Pathways team as the Assistant Director of Community Partnerships. Based in Ohio and deeply connected to the state, Katie will establish relationships with local, state, and other partners to facilitate and carry out projects designed to advance behavioral health crisis response best practices. With a background spanning emergency departments, community crisis response systems, correctional facilities, schools, and coalitions, she brings a deep understanding of how systems intersect and impact individuals in crisis.
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