Washington Administrative Code › Title 388 - Social and Health Services, Department of › BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES › Chapter 388-877A - Outpatient mental health services › Section SECTION TWO - CRISIS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES › Section 388-877A-0240 - Crisis mental health services-Outreach services

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Crisis outreach services are face-to-face intervention
					 services provided to assist individuals in a community setting. A community
					 setting can be an individual's home, an emergency room, a nursing facility, or
					 other private or public location. An agency providing crisis outreach services
					 must:
(1) Provide crisis telephone
				  screening.
(2) Have staff available
				  twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to respond to a crisis.
(3) Ensure face-to-face outreach services are
				  provided by a mental health professional, or a staff member under the
				  supervision of a mental health professional with documented training in crisis
				  response.
(4) Ensure services are
				  provided in a setting that provides for the safety of the individual and agency
				  staff members.
(5) Have a protocol
				  for requesting a copy of an individual's crisis plan twenty-four hours a day,
				  seven days a week.
(6) Require that
				  staff member(s) remain with the individual in crisis in order to provide
				  stabilization and support until the crisis is resolved or a referral to another
				  service is accomplished.
(7)
				  Resolve the crisis in the least restrictive manner possible.
(8) Have a written plan for training, staff
				  back-up, information sharing, and communication for staff members who respond
				  to a crisis in an individual's private home or in a non-public
				  setting.
(9) Ensure that a staff
				  member responding to a crisis is able to be accompanied by a second trained
				  individual when services are provided in the individual's home or other
				  non-public location.
(10) Ensure
				  that any staff member who engages in home visits is provided by their employer
				  with a wireless telephone, or comparable device for the purpose of emergency
				  communication as described in
				  RCW
				   71.05.710.
(11) Provide staff members who are sent to a
				  private home or other private location to evaluate an individual in crisis,
				  prompt access to information about any history of dangerousness or potential
				  dangerousness on the individual they are being sent to evaluate that is
				  documented in a crisis plan(s) or commitment record(s). This information must
				  be made available without unduly delaying the crisis response.
(12) Have a written protocol that allows for
				  the referral of an individual to a voluntary or involuntary treatment facility
				  twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
(13) Have a written protocol for the
				  transportation of an individual in a safe and timely manner, when
				  necessary.
(14) Document all crisis
				  response contacts, including:
(a) The date,
				  time, and location of the initial contact.
(b) The source of referral or identity of
				  caller.
(c) The nature of the
				  crisis.
(d) Whether the individual
				  has a crisis plan and any attempts to obtain a copy.
(e) The time elapsed from the initial contact
				  to the face-to-face response.
(f)
				  The outcome, including:
(i) The basis for a
				  decision not to respond in person;
(ii) Any follow-up contacts made;
				  and
(iii) Any referrals made,
				  including referrals to emergency medical services.
(g) The name of the staff person(s) who
				  responded to the crisis.