How to Get Help - For Professionals

For Professionals


The Crisis Services Department strives to provide programming directed at stabilizing crisis situations and maintaining the family as a whole within their community.

Program Description 
The Crisis Services Department provides a full range of services to children and youths and their families. The services are provided on a continuum which enables the services to support family empowerment without overriding family strengths. A family may increase or decrease the number and types of support given its current level of need.

The services provided by the Crisis Services Department fall into four general areas:

  1. Helpline
  2. Crisis Intervention Meetings
  3. Outreach Meetings
  4. Aftercare
    Helpline 
    Helpline services consist of a 24 hour telephone Helpline that is answered either by Crisis Services Counselors or telephone trained staff members. The Helpline provides the following services: 
    • Crisis Counseling: This service consists of crisis assessment, strengths/needs assessment, safety assessment, and control and calming of the situation.
    • Information and Referral: This service consists of providing the caller with information about Kids in Crisis services and recommending which might be most appropriate to the caller's needs, providing information about support in the caller's community, and recommending types of services available in the community.
    • All callers to the Helpline are offered the opportunity to participate in a face to face meeting that can be facilitated within two hours.
    Crisis Intervention 
    Crisis Intervention Meetings are a 24 hour service providing the child, youth or family with a face to face meeting to manage an acute crisis situation. The meeting is facilitated by a Crisis Services Counselor or other specially trained Kids in Crisis staff member. The Crisis Intervention Meeting provides the following services: 
    • Crisis Counseling: this consists of more in-depth strengths/needs assessments and safety assessments, mediation of the conflict, negotiation of possible solutions, discussion of options, exploration of familial and community supports and development of short and long term goals and a follow-up plan.
    • Information and Referral: once information about the challenge the family is facing is gathered, the Crisis Services Counselor will make recommendations of specific community supports. The Crisis Services Counselor will explain the service and the means by which the service will help the family. When appropriate, the Crisis Services Counselor will initiate the referral to the community provider on the next business day.
    • Shelter Access: if during the course of the Crisis Intervention Meeting, the Crisis Services Counselor feels the family is in need of either a respite or more intensive treatment, the family will be assessed for appropriateness of shelter services. In this situation, the Crisis Services Counselor will complete all of the necessary paperwork to bring the child or youth into shelter. This paperwork will include an initial treatment plan, complete with goals to be met while the child or youth is in shelter.
    Outreach Meetings 
    Outreach Meetings are a step down from a crisis intervention meeting. The Outreach Meeting is able to be scheduled in advance as the situation is not so uncomfortable for the family as to be considered acute and in need of immediate attention. The types of services provided during these meetings are the same as those provided in Crisis Intervention Meetings 

    Aftercare 
    Aftercare support is generally provided during business hours of the Crisis Services Department. Aftercare contacts can consist of either telephone or face-to-face supports. The contacts are generally scheduled in advance. The Aftercare supports are designed to maintain the stabilization of the family until long term community supports are transitioned into place. Aftercare support generally lasts for no longer than three months. Aftercare provided the following services: 
    • On-going face to face or telephone contacts designed to continue to provide support, education or the development of family living skills such as communication or structure.
    • Follow-up on the child's, youth's, or family's use of skills taught by KiC as an effort to manage future crisis situations.
    • Follow-up on the utilization of community supports.
      Assist with the transition into long term community supports. 


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