Crisis resources and crisis planning in Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Human Services tells people who are thinking about suicide or having a mental health crisis to call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and to call 911 for a medical emergency. People can also contact their local mobile crisis team directly. DHS keeps a directory of mental health crisis phone numbers by county and Tribe, and describes crisis services as available around the clock across the state. Because numbers and local arrangements change, point people to the current DHS directory rather than keeping an old list in a desk drawer.

DHS describes mobile crisis teams as mental health professionals and practitioners who provide psychiatric services in a person's home or another place outside the usual clinic setting. Crisis help in Minnesota can include mobile crisis response, where trained responders come to the person's home or a place the person chooses; residential crisis services, where a person can stay for a few days in a facility until the crisis is under control; and crisis stabilization, which follows a crisis and helps the person connect with other providers and build skills to prevent the next one. For many people, a mental health response is safer and more helpful than a law enforcement response, but medical emergencies still call for 911.

The best time to plan for a crisis is when the person is well. A useful crisis plan is written with the person, in their words. It records early warning signs, what helps and what makes things worse, who they want contacted and who they do not, preferred crisis services, current medications and any trauma-related triggers such as being touched or being in a locked room. A trauma-informed plan avoids forcing the person to retell painful history and focuses on what they want others to know.

For 245D licensed providers, crisis events also carry reporting duties. The Positive Supports Rule requires license holders to report certain events to DHS on the behavior intervention report form, including an incident that requires a call to mental health mobile crisis services and a behavioral incident that results in a call to 911. Oversight staff should read these reports as signals about whether a person's supports are working, not only as paperwork.

Imani supervises case managers at a county lead agency. During a team meeting, a case manager mentions that Walt, who receives waiver services and lives in his own apartment, called her late one night in distress, and she did not know whom to call besides 911. The team realizes their printed crisis list is out of date and that few of the people they serve have written crisis plans. Walt has said before that police at his door frightens him.

Find the current DHS mental health crisis phone directory for the counties or Tribes you work with, save the link where your team can reach it, and check that it matches any printed materials you hand out.

If someone you serve called you in crisis tomorrow, how confident would you feel about your next step? What would make you more confident?