While our system for responding to mental health crises should, by definition, be humane, they too often are so inhumane that they actually result in poor health outcomes – including death – and offer little or no long-term support for a person experiencing a crisis. The reason? A fragmented response system that relies too heavily on law enforcement, hospitals, and jails, argues the recent Bookings article, “Building a sustainable behavioral health crisis continuum.” Authors Richard G. Frank – a senior Brookings fellow in economic studies – and Viaduct Consulting Principal Vikki Wachino not only offer an in-depth view of the problem, but they also give an overview of new federal policies that address the issue – complete with their likely impact and challenges – and a consideration of what can be done to better position states and municipalities to provide more humane services to those experiencing behavioral health crises.
Read the Brookings article here.
