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Psychiatry (Child and Adolescent)

Child Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program

NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital's Emergency Department offers one of the only dedicated psychiatric programs in the country designed specifically for the evaluation and treatment for children and adolescents with psychiatric emergencies. In October 2004, in coordination with Child Psychiatry and the Pediatric Emergency Department, the first New York State Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program for children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders was established. At our facility, children having psychiatric emergencies are evaluated in a separate emergency department that is staffed around the clock by a psychiatric staff, including a child psychiatrist, nurses, case managers, and psychologists. Patients receive rapid comprehensive psychiatric evaluations and, when indicated, can be held up to 72 hours in extended observation beds for stabilization.

The Child Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (C-CPEP) Service has three components:

• extended observation unit (3 beds) for up to 72 hours, with 24/7 emergency services
• immediate treatment clinic (up to 30 slots per month) functioning as a step down from the acute unit
• home-based crisis intervention service component with their own 24/7 crisis intervention team and treatment for up to 8 to 10 weeks

The program provides observation and stabilization of acute psychiatric symptoms, facilitates transfers to psychiatric inpatient units, and arranges outpatient referrals. The program oversees 1,300 to 1,500 children per year.

The extended observation unit is staffed around the clock with a psychiatrist, nurse, and an emergency response team. The unit has two full-time case managers, a psychologist, and a full-time administrator. The program provides:

• crisis prevention, stabilization and management
• triage
• medical screening
• psychological first aid
• de-escalation and brief therapeutic interventions, including psychological and psychopharmacological treatment
• diagnosis
• consultation and support for outpatient clinicians
• referral and linkage to clinical and research services
• short-term case coordination
• community education
• disaster coordination