NCJ Number
124423
Date Published
1988
Length
129 pages
Annotation
A national survey of programs providing services to severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents formed the basis of this analysis of the organization, philosophy, services, staffing, costs, funding sources, outcomes, and problems of programs providing crisis services to these children and their families.
Abstract
Information was gathered from 1986 to 1988 through questionnaires, site visits, and a literature review. Findings showed that common characteristics of crisis services included their availability 24 hours a day, their goal of averting hospitalization, their focus on short-term services, their small size, and their involvement of the family to the extent possible. The services included crisis telephone services, walk-in intervention, mobile crisis outreach services, and crisis residential services. The intake process was a critical part of crisis services. The programs varied in terms of their hospital affiliation, integration with a larger network of services, and staffing patterns and credentials. Individual program descriptions and profiles, figures, and appended list of programs responding to the survey.