Public/Private Partnership in Crisis Intervention

Lesley Levin and Barry J. Schapiro

Behavioral Health Response

11960 Westline Industrial Drive -- Suite 283

St. Louis, Missouri 63146

(314) 469-4908

In order to respond to the mental health needs of the people of the state of Missouri, a state-wide crisis response system was designed as a way of dealing with the fragmented approach being used in the early '90s. The system was regionalized to provide for more rapid response from mental health professionals familiar with the resources in local communities.

Behavior Health Response, Inc. (BHR) is a private not-for-profit agency that was created to serve the crisis response needs of 2.1 million residents of the Eastern Region of Missouri, including the City of St. Louis and six surrounding Missouri counties.

This presentation will describe:

the process by which BHR's programs were designed.
the programs themselves, including phone counseling and mobile outreach services.
how BHR's services evolved beyond the originally envisioned plan.
the marketing of the crisis response system beyond the original population at risk.
the process of community involvement and achieve stakeholder buy-in and
what we believe to be the components of a superior crisis response system.

Our intent is to present not only what we have achieved in a little over a year in operation, but what we have learned about how to design and operate a viable crisis response system over a large geographic area with a diverse population. We further intend to use this presentation as a springboard to discussion of the joys and perils of creating and operating a crisis response system, and we hope everyone will participate.

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