Crisis

A behavioral crisis is a situation in which a person’s behaviors can put them in jeopardy of harming themselves or others, of being unable to care for themselves, and/or live a restricted life.

How do I know if I am or a loved one is in crisis?

• Are you at risk of losing natural supports such as babysitting, housing, therapies, daycare, etc?

• Do you have a history of using emergency rooms or 911 calls?

• Have you had more than one psychiatric hospitalization this month?

• Have your behaviors resulted in injuries to yourself or others?

• Are your caregivers unable to go into the community with you because of behavioral issues?

What is a crisis intervention?

A crisis intervention is an intensive form of caregiver training that occurs in the client’s presence for 72 consecutive hours (except when the client is asleep). During the crisis intervention, caregivers are coached continuously on preventing and responding to challenging behaviors. The goal of a crisis intervention is to help our clients stay in their home by supporting their caregivers. In some cases, the ABA-CFE team is unable to initiate or complete a crisis intervention if behaviors cannot be managed safely in a client’s home. In these cases, the ABA-CFE supports the client by providing information on additional resources in the community.

Funding for crisis interventions:

In many cases, the crisis intervention is part of the ABA therapy or Behavior Support program. Clients with private insurance for ABA therapy or Medicaid waiver programs such as HCS or TxHml may be eligible for intensive ABA therapy or Behavior Support services.