A report ispresented onemergency services in community mental health. Clarification ofsuchservices isdiscussed asiscrisis intervention. Recommendations are madefortheoperation ofcrisis intervention programs.

Emergency services inmentalhealth settings have increased greatly overthelastseveral years. Theyarea required partoffederally funded mental health centers; and emergency, including crisis intervention, services arewidely advocated asproviding alternatives topsychiatric hospitalization. Yetthereisa gooddealofevidence thatmany 'difficulties havebeenencountered inestablishing and maintaining these services. Glasscote etal.' ,2havenoted thatemergency services incommunity mentalhealth centers rarely constitute astrong component oftheoverall centerprogram. Noneofeight surveyed mentalhealth centers hadmental health professionals available around the clock, andsixofeight centers provided emergency services inthegeneral emergency room,without thepresence of mentalhealthpersonnel there.2 Thepresent author's personal observations ofanumberofcommunity mental health centers inseveral states confirm thatemergency services often arejust large enoughtocomplywiththe letter ofthelawandonlyinveryfewcasesreceive sufficient funding andsupport to makea significant