Crisis intervention services and supports promote a quick return to recovery and wellness management for individuals experiencing behavioral health crisis. The crisis services continuum is an array of crisis prevention, early intervention, response, and stabilization strategies with an emphasis on avoiding unnecessary visits to hospital emergency departments and involvement with the criminal justice system and are accessible and provided in a timely fashion in each community.
Local Management Entities/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) are responsible to assure an array of crisis services within available funding and under the requirements of the DMA and DMHDDSAS contracts. Expected services include, but are not limited to: Mobile Crisis Management, NC START and respite, behavioral health urgent care centers and community hospital psychiatric inpatient. When available the NC DMHDDSAS will direct funds for other specialty crisis services and community supports via statewide contracts or via competitive invitations to apply for funding processes resulting in designated allocations to the LME/MCOs.