Virginia is launching a new system to improve the response to mental health emergencies.

The Marcus Alert system launched Dec. 1 in five regions in the state. It is starting as a pilot program in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Bristol, Prince William and Washington counties, and five counties in the Northern Piedmont. It must expand to all parts of the state by July 1, 2026.

The system is named for Marcus-David Peters, a 24-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University honors graduate and biology teacher who was fatally shot in May 2018 by a Richmond Police officer during what has been described as a mental health crisis.

It’s part of a rollout of new services financed by Virginia’s Medicaid program to help people in behavioral crises in their com- munities to avoid sending them to state mental hospitals, private emergency rooms and juvenile detention centers.

The system aims to use regional call centers to alert mental health teams to potential psychiatric emergencies, quickly assess risks and dispatch professionals to help the person in crisis by persuasion instead of force.

“It’s a behavioral health response to a behavioral health crisis,” said Heather Norton, assistant commissioner at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. “We want to mitigate to the extent possible the need for law enforcement involvement.”