Sarah Strang, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor, Director for the Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) and MCOT Rapid Response at The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech and completed her Master of Education in Community Counseling at Georgia Southern University. She has worked for The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD for 14 years in both the juvenile justice division and the crisis division. As the MCOT and MCOT Rapid Response Director, she leads two teams of mental health professionals. The MCOT Team receives referrals from The Harris Center Crisis Line to provide rapid mobile crisis response services in the community aimed at reducing hospitalization through collaborative safety planning, intensive crisis follow up, and relapse prevention services. MCOT Rapid Response is collaboration with the Houston Police Department (HPD) and The Harris Center Crisis Call Diversion (CCD). MCOT Rapid Response serves as a fourth option for dispatch and first line response for all callers to 911 and Houston Police Department (HPD) non-emergency line that are non-imminent and non-criminal. The goal of MCOT Rapid Response is to eliminate an automatic response of fire, EMS, or law enforcement when someone contacts 911 in need of mental health assistance. Since 2019, The Harris Center’s MCOT team has collaborated with Harris County Juvenile Probation, Harris County District Attorney’s Office, and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services as part of the FIRST program, a juvenile diversion program for youth.    In addition, Sarah continues to represent The Harris Center as part of The Houston Mayor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Services Members, Veterans, and Their Families.