Together Toward Tomorrow: Mental Health & Crisis Intervention Teams Annual Conference 2026

This premier statewide conference brings together voices from mental health, law enforcement, healthcare, and advocacy to explore innovative strategies, strengthen collaboration, and improve crisis response and mental health outcomes in Mississippi. We are committed to advancing Together Toward Tomorrow by uniting across disciplines and communities to ensure that every child, individual, and family can access the care and support they need. By investing in our communities today, we are fostering stronger, safer, and healthier generations for the future.

At the heart of the conference is the urgent need to strengthen Crisis Intervention Teams through partnerships between law enforcement, community mental health centers, primary care providers, and behavioral health professionals. The event will feature keynote speakers, expert-led workshops, and opportunities for cross-sector collaboration to transform crisis response and youth mental health, thereby building long-term trust and safety. When someone faces a mental health crisis and doesn't receive the care they need, they can end up in overcrowded emergency rooms, experience homelessness, become involved in the criminal justice system, or worse, lose their life. To change this costly and tragic dynamic, we need readily accessible, effective, and timely crisis care as an essential component of our mental health service system to ensure that everyone can access help when they need it. The National Behavioral Health Crisis Care Guidance is built on three foundational elements that are essential within an integrated crisis care system with the goal that everyone should have access to: Someone to Contact (Services like the 988 Lifeline and other behavioral health hotlines provide immediate, accessible support), Someone to Respond (Services like Mobile Crisis Teams that deliver rapid, on-site interventions to de-escalate crises and connect individuals to care as well as Crisis Outreach Teams that provide complementary crisis prevention and postvention), and A Safe Place for Help (A wide array of stabilization services for behavioral health crisis and emergencies where people can receive immediate treatment and support as well as services that can aid in crisis prevention and postvention).

2025 marked a significant milestone when NAMI and Mississippi CIT hosted the inaugural joint conference, attracting over 300 attendees. 2026 is expected to be even larger, amplifying the movement toward a shared vision: a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.