Professional Telephone Triage  

Crisis Reponse Services provides Professional Telephone Triage services Monday through Friday 8:00am to 6:00pm. When Professional Telephone Triage staff are not on-site, calls are received by First Call for Help, a crisis hotline. Volunteers and staff at First Call for Help are able to contact Crisis Response Services staff as needed when calls are received and response from a clinician is needed.

Professional Telephone Triage services is comprised of Masters' level clinicians who receive all in-coming calls to SMH or First Call for Help that are requests for:

• Outpatient Services
• Crisis Intervention Services
• Involuntary Treatment Services

Staff are trained to assess and prioritize the various layers of concerns individuals present in order to provide the most appropriate response. Upon triaging a call, staff can determine if telephone contact, on-site walk-in services or mobile outreach services are required.

Professional Telephone Triage staff provide:

• Community resource information, assistance and referrals;
• Assessments as needed to determine level of functioning/risk and appropriate types and levels of intervention;
• Telephone Crisis Intervention;
• Decision making in mobilizing the Crisis Response Team to respond to a crisis in the community.