CRISIS STABILIZATION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS - A BROKERAGE MODEL TO REDUCE ADMISSIONS TO STATE PSYCHIATRIC FACILITIES

There continues to be an increased interest in developing community-ba sed services for children and adolescents as an alternative to inpatie nt care. However, there has been much more talk than action in creatin g such alternatives. This paper describes the success of a crisis stab ilization program for children and adolescents in a community mental h ealth center which historically over-utilized the State psychiatric fa cility for youth. The Crisis Stabilization Program consists of three c omponents: (1) a two-person crisis team, (2) a four-person on-call tea m for after hours crises, and (3) funds which the crisis team utilized to broker for a wider array of community-based services.