Pediatric Mental Health Care in the Emergency Department Toolkit

Despite limited mental health services, hospitals bear the challenge of responding to children seeking care for a mental health crisis in an emergency department.

To address these issues, HRSA released a toolkit of literature references and tools that can be used by hospitals to support the creation of care pathways. The toolkit acknowledges the unique challenges that rural communities face. Care pathways improve the identification and management of children and adolescents who present to an emergency department in a mental health crisis. The toolkit also contains a template designed to help hospitals establish a customized care pathway, with special acknowledgment given to the unique challenges that face rural communities.

Read the Care Pathway Resource Toolkit (PDF)