Growth of Mobile Crisis Intervention

Traditionally, response to psychiatric emergencies and crises was emergency screening through a hospital Emergency Room (ER) or mental health center followed by outpatient treatment or hospitalization. Law enforcement was often involved in the initial screening and/or transfer of the individual to a hospital or jail.

The 1990 National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Roundtable Report found that the mental health systems were not giving people what they need to prevent a crisis from developing and paying too little attention to the availability of the basic necessities of life in the process. Of major concern, in the report, was the need for services and supports that can prevent the escalation of a crisis.

Emergency services require the person to come to the institution. Experiencing a busy, rushed ER or crisis center and anticipating possible hospitalization can further stress an already stressed person. That form of response may, in fact, escalate the person’s symptoms.