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National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Resource Type: Documents and Publications

Focus Population: People with Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

Topics: Crisis Response System, Peer Support, Psychiatric or Mental Health Stabilization, Rural Services, Suicide Prevention, Trauma-informed

A comprehensive and integrated crisis network is the first line of defense in preventing tragedies of public and patient safety, civil rights, extraordinary and unacceptable loss of lives, and the waste of resources. There is a better way. Effective crisis care that saves lives and dollars requires a systemic approach. This toolkit will delineate how to estimate the crisis system resource needs of a community, the number of individuals who can be served within the system, the cost of crisis services, the workforce demands of implementing crisis care and the community-changing impact that can be seen when services are delivered in a manner that aligns with this Best Practice Toolkit. Readers will also learn how this approach harnesses data and technology, draws on the expertise of those with lived experience, and incorporatesevidence-based suicide prevention practices.