Expanding the Children’s Crisis Continuum of Care in Connecticut
By Tammy Freeberg MSW, Vice President, Strategy & Planning
“Too often, youth experiencing behavioral health crisis face hospitalization or justice system involvement, instead of the home- and community-based services they need to de-escalate and stabilize.”
Filling a Gap in the State’s Crisis Response System
This summer, The Village for Families & Children (The Village) is joining two other community-based organizations in opening regional pediatric Urgent Crisis Centers (UCC) to fill a gap in the state’s crisis response system.
SAMHSA’s national best practice guidelines call for a stepped care system comprised of three components: 1) Someone to Talk To – Crisis Call Center, 2) Someone to Respond – Crisis Mobile Team Response, and 3) A Safe Place to Be – Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Services. Recognizing that the state lacked adequate crisis receiving and stabilizing facilities, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) worked in concert with the Children's Behavioral Health Plan Implementation Advisory Board to take action.
About The UCC Model
Connecticut’s UCCs are the product of recommendations a stakeholder workgroup, the Governor’s strategic investment of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, DCF’s leadership of a procurement process, and the collaborative planning of the selected provider organizations. A workgroup comprised of representatives from hospitals, community-based provider agencies, child and family advocacy organizations, the state’s behavioral health partnership, and state agencies collaborated across a total of seven meetings held between June and December 2021. The final report, issued in January 2022, affirmed the need for additional levels of crisis care, and informed by a review of the literature and best practices, recommended that the state fully fund and implement a 23-hour behavioral health urgent care model. The UCC model was included in bipartisan, unanimous legislation in the Connecticut General Assembly; legislators also see the centers as critical to expanding access to acute care.
Why The UCCs Work
The UCCs are a multifaceted intervention for children and adolescents with urgent behavioral health needs who do not present as an imminent threat of harm to self or others. The model seeks to prevent emerging crises from escalating to emergencies: connecting young people and their families to the right care and avoiding unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits — where they can face extended waits for treatment.
The UCCs offer an accessible and convenient alternative to the ED by providing a safe, comfortable environment like a living room or outpatient care office. The spaces are thoughtfully designed to relieve anxiety, encourage conversation, and reduce self-harm risks while avoiding a sterile, medical feel. The core elements of the model are rapid access to assessment, crisis intervention, parent and caregiver support, treatment planning and initiation, and meaningful connection to follow-up and ongoing care, all facilitated by a multidisciplinary team.
Amid the children’s mental health crisis, The Village is excited to be part of the solution and eager to realize the potential of UCCs to get young people the care they need, when and how they need it.
To be successful, we need:
Advocacy for a sustainable payment structure that supports payer-blind, walk-in access with funding for “standing capacity” as the primary source of revenue
Partnerships and coordination so that we can interface between both higher and lower intensity behavioral health care settings
Shared expertise and learning to shape and improve the service model and delivery.
We hope you’ll follow the implementation of UCCs and offer your support, knowledge, and encouragement!
