Child & Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Services
These are mental health services provided in a hospital setting 24 hours a day for children who need hospitalization because of the severity of their mental illness and dangerousness to themselves or others. Before the child is hospitalized, every effort is made to provide crisis or out-patient services that meet their needs while they continue to live at home.
There are 3 levels of categories of care:
- Acute care stays are usually short, lasting from a few days to a few weeks and occurs in general hospitals (Article 28) and freestanding psychiatric hospitals (Article 31).
- Intermediate care stays are longer than acute, and are provided by children's psychiatric hospitals operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health in Children's Psychiatric Centers.
- Long-term care occurs in Residential Treatment Facilities.
Contact NYC Well for Support
NYC Well has a staff of trained mental health professionals that can help callers find the most appropriate mental health and substance abuse services for their needs. Services include counseling, suicide prevention, crisis intervention, peer support, referrals to care, assistance in connecting to the referral, and follow-up services. NYC Well is free and confidential and operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week via phone, text, and internet chat. NYC Well is multilingual and multicultural:
- 1-888-NYC-WELL (1-888-692-9355)
- 1-888-692-9355 (Español)
- 1-888-692-9355 (中文)
- 711 (TTY for hearing impaired)
You can also text WELL to 65173 or go to NYC Well, an online resource for individuals, families and agencies in need of help and information.
Inpatient Psychiatric Units
Services include:
- Psychiatric and psychosocial assessments
- Medication management
- Individual, group, and family therapies
- Educational and recreational therapies
Who gets these services?
- Children that need to be treated and stabilized in a hospital because of danger to themselves or others.
How to access:
Referrals to acute inpatient psychiatric units are generally made by the physician in the Emergency Department.
Referrals to intermediate state Children's Psychiatric Centers are centralized. The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) manages the facilities for youth who require intermediate-level inpatient treatment. For referrals to intermediate level inpatient care call: Central Intake at 718-264-4546.
For more information, contact 1-888-NYC-WELL (1-888-692-9355).