Addressing Substance Use in Behavioral Health Crisis Care: A Companion Resource to the SAMHSA Crisis Toolkit
Source: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
Resource Type: Documents and Publications
Focus Population: People in Recovery from Substance Use
Topics: Crisis Response System, Mobile Crisis Unit, Peer Support, Recovery from Mental Health or Substance Use Disorders
Substance use disorders cannot be an afterthought in our approach to crisis care. Full integration of mental health and substance use disorders in treatment needs to be embraced across the continuum, which includes the crisis system. This report highlights states and programs that are demonstrating success integrating substance use disorders in the three core services described in the SAMHSA Crisis Toolkit – crisis call centers, mobile crisis response services, and crisis stabilization services. This report also identifies the essential principles that are crucial for effective integration, as well as practices that are more specific to the SUD population not identified within the SAMHSA Crisis Toolkit but may be useful for consideration of implementation.