The Future of Crisis Services: Clarifying Accountability, Improving Coordination, and Promoting Sustainability

Behavioral health crisis services, which include the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, mobile crisis teams, and crisis stabilization facilities, among others, are commonly delivered by disparate providers and networks, ranging from public health systems and local government entities to private and nonprofit providers. This fragmentation often leads to unclear crisis service accountability, which in turn leads to inefficiencies, treatment disparities, and poor health outcomes. To improve crisis services broadly, care should be centralized and delivered primarily at the population level in a defined geographic area under the auspices of a clearly recognized accountable entity.