Toolkit Strengthening Partnerships Between Providers of Homeless Services and Behavioral Health Crisis Teams
People who are homeless experience behavioral health crises at higher rates than the general population,
yet they often face significant barriers to timely, appropriate crisis care. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines a behavioral health crisis as “any experience of stress, emotional, or behavioral symptoms, difficulties with substance use or a traumatic event that compromises or has the ability to negatively impact an individual’s well-being, safety, and/or the ability to function.” SAMHSA distinguishes a behavioral health crisis from a behavioral health emergency, which “may result in significant harm to self, others or grave disability” without immediate intervention. This distinction is important because crisis systems are increasingly recognizing 1) a person does not have to be in imminent danger to benefit from crisis services and 2) individuals should be able to receive support based on their own experience of crisis. Without timely intervention, behavioral health crises can escalate into emergencies, which in turn can contribute to repeated emergency department visits, psychiatric hospital admissions, incarceration, and housing instability.
Providers of homeless services are often the first to recognize early warning signs of escalation, giving them a critical role in connecting people to crisis support. Their ability to de-escalate situations, offer brief intervention, safety, and/or disposition planning, and connect people to crisis, ongoing, and follow-up services when appropriate is essential. Strong partnerships between providers of homeless services and crisis teams ensure that individuals receive timely, person-centered care through coordinated responses. Clearly defined roles, well-established communication
pathways, trauma-informed and recovery-oriented approaches, and warm handoff referrals can all help
individuals connect to appropriate services.