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Who Benefits From Crisis Intervention?

The children and adolescents under the age of eighteen and who live in southern New Castle, Kent or Sussex Counties and who are experiencing mental health crisis that put themselves and/or others at serious risk due to behavior related to serious emotional disturbance or mental illness, are eligable for services to include:

• Children and adolescents whose primary caretakers are requesting emergency psychiatric hospitalization.
• Children and adolescents who are exhibiting acute self destructiveness which may include:
  • Recent suicide attempt and/or threats of moderate to serious lethality, which are not in immediate.
  • Need of medical stabilization
  • Recent exposure of self to circumstances that could result in serious impairment of the quality of life and/or health of the client.
  • Engaging in other behavior that places the child at serious and imminent physical risk.
• Children who are presenting imminent danger to others due to aggressive behavior, gestures, or threats related to serious emotional disturbance and/or mental illness.
• Children or adolescents who are exhibiting symptoms of severe psychiatric disorder - such as thought disorders and major affective disorders.

Insured clients including those with Medicaid may be seen for the initial assessment. DCMHS Clinical Management Teams will make decisions about continued authorizations on an individual basis. Uninsured clients without Medicaid or other insurance benefits.