Child and Adolescent Mental Health Emergency Crisis - NYC Health

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Child and Adolescent Mental Health Emergency and Crisis Services

Mental health services are available to help your family during an emergency. These services can provide help quickly if your child is:

Uncontrollable or unable to calm down.

Behaving aggressively toward themselves or other people.

Showing a significant change in mood or behavior.

If your child is in imminent danger of hurting themselves or others, call 911.

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Services

988

988 is a free and confidential 24/7 service that can help you find care for mental health and substance abuse concerns. Services include:

Counseling

Suicide prevention

Crisis intervention

Peer support

Referrals for care

Assistance in connecting to the referral

Follow-up services

Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Rooms

Children 18 and younger can visit a psychiatric emergency room for treatment for emotional or behavioral emergencies. Not all hospitals have psychiatric emergency rooms for children, but children can be evaluated in any emergency room and hospital staff will consult with the family about next steps.

For more information, contact 988.

Children's Mobile Crisis Teams

Children’s Mobile Crisis Teams provide care and short-term management for children and adolescents 20 and younger who are experiencing severe behavioral crisis.

For more information, visit Mobile Crisis Team or contact 988.

Home-based Crisis Intervention

Home-based Crisis Intervention programs provide intensive in-home crisis care to children between 5 and 18 years old. Services are typically provided over four to six weeks and are an alternative to hospitalization for children and adolescents experiencing severe emotional distress.

This service is for children and adolescents who do not need immediate hospitalization.

Services include:

Crisis intervention

Building problem-solving skills

Individual and family counseling

Connection to community-based resources

Case management

Medication evaluation and management

While most referrals for this program are made by emergency rooms, in-patient and out-patient clinics or mobile crisis teams, any person can make a referral as long as they have the consent of the child’s family and a referral letter from a psychiatrist or licensed clinician.

For more information, contact 988.

More Information

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Main Page

Information and Referrals

Outpatient Services

Inpatient Services

Community Residential Services