Crisis mental health services are intended to stabilize an individual in crisis to prevent further deterioration, provide immediate treatment and intervention in a location best suited to meet the needs of the individual, and provide treatment services in the least restrictive environment available.

(1) Crisis services include:

(a) Crisis telephone support;

(b) Crisis outreach services; and

(c) Crisis stabilization services.

(2) An agency providing crisis mental health services does not need to meet the requirements in WAC 246-341-0640.

(3) An agency providing any crisis mental health service must:

(a) Require that trained staff remain, in person or on the phone, with the individual in crisis in order to provide stabilization and support until the crisis is resolved or referral to another service is accomplished;

(b) Determine if an individual has a crisis plan and request a copy if available;

(c) As appropriate, refer individuals to voluntary or involuntary treatment facilities for admission on a seven-day-a-week, twenty-four-hour-a-day basis, including arrangements for contacting the designated crisis responder;

(d) Transport or arrange for transport of an individual in a safe and timely manner, when necessary;

(e) Be available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, unless providing only crisis stabilization services; and

(f) Include family members, significant others, and other relevant treatment providers, as necessary, to provide support to the individual in crisis.

(4) When services are provided in a private home or nonpublic setting the agency must:

(a) Have a written plan for training, staff back-up, information sharing, and communication for staff members who respond to a crisis in an individual's personal residence or in a nonpublic setting;

(b) Ensure that a staff member responding to a crisis is able to be accompanied by a second trained individual when services are provided in the individual's personal residence or other nonpublic location;

(c) Ensure that any staff member who engages in home visits is provided access, by their employer, to a wireless telephone or comparable device for the purpose of emergency communication as described in RCW 71.05.710;

(d) Provide staff members who are sent to a private home or other private location to evaluate an individual in crisis prompt access to information about any history of dangerousness or potential dangerousness on the individual they are being sent to evaluate that is documented in a crisis plan(s) or commitment record(s). This information must be made available without unduly delaying the crisis response.

(5) Documentation of a crisis service must include the following, as applicable to the crisis service provided:

(a) A brief summary of each crisis service encounter, including the date, time, and duration of the encounter;

(b) The names of the participants;

(c) A follow-up plan or disposition, including any referrals for services, including emergency medical services;

(d) Whether the individual has a crisis plan and any request to obtain the crisis plan; and

(e) The name and credential of the staff person providing the service.