Improving the Child and Adolescent Crisis System: Shifting from a 9-1-1 to a 9-8-8 Paradigm
Source: National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
Resource Type: Documents and Publications
Focus Population: Youth, Youth of Transition Age
Topics: Criminal or Juvenile Justice System, Crisis Response System, Family, Schools, School-based Services
This brief offers best practice considerations for achieving a paradigm shift in our child and adolescent crisis system, away from a reactive and fragmented approach toward a full continuum of supports and services, built on the collaboration of child-serving systems and leveraging current technology. It first highlights opportunities to “work upstream”; that is, to prevent crises before they occur and diminish them when they do arise by leveraging the natural support systems already available to children and families, including schools, pediatric primary care and community partners. It then outlines child-specific considerations to augment the SAMHSA Crisis Best Practice Toolkit, with an emphasis on developmental attunement, youth and family engagement, and cultural responsiveness and equity. Finally, it derives policies from lessons learned in the context of COVID-19, including ways to harness and expand technology to augment care quality and access.