THE CHALLENGE
After reviewing approaches to crisis care across the United States, the Crisis Services Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance) believes now is the time for crisis care to change. The Task Force, established to advance objective 8.2 of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP), comprises many experts, including leaders who have built and operate many of the most acclaimed crisis programs in the nation.
- Crisis care often being the preferred and most efficient care for people in crisis
- The absence of core elements of successful crisis care in many communities
- Mental health reform proposals that are on the table but fail to seize the opportunity to improve crisis care
- Mental health parity legislation and coverage expansion
EDS FACE CHALLENGES ADDRESSING BEHAVIORAL EMERGENCIES
The Task Force has studied elements of successful programs and reviewed their effectiveness. While some communities are crisis-ready, there are very few communities where all key elements of crisis care are in place, and many where even the “parts” of crisis care that exist are inadequate. In short, core elements of crisis care include:
- Regional or statewide crisis call centers coordinating in real time
- Centrally deployed, 24/7 mobile crisis
- Short-term, “sub-acute” residential crisis stabilization programs
- Essential crisis care principles and practices
- Develop and implement protocols for delivering services for individuals with suicide risk in the most collaborative, responsive, and least restrictive setting
