This session will introduce essential mental health crisis and involuntary commitment (IVC) vocabulary and discuss the importance of developing a suicidality protocol in clinical settings. We will use the example of North Carolina’s evolving mental health and IVC systems to illustrate how policy changes impact clinicians managing patients in crisis. Using the UNC Student Health Action Coalition (SHAC) as a case study, we will walk through how our team engaged policy personnel, community members, and providers to create a clinic-specific protocol. Attendees will be guided through developing their own decision trees and discuss real-world applications of protocols and key challenges for clinics implementing crisis response strategies.
Sarah Belcher LCSW, CTM, Police Crisis Unit Supervisor, Individual - Sarah Belcher,
Danielle Lowe MD, PhD, Board certified in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Assistant Clinical Professor, Medical Director of Crisis Inpatient unit, Individual - Danielle Lowe,
Sarah Belcher, LCSW, CTM
Danielle Lowe, MD
Lombardi and Lanier. Responding to North Carolina’s Behavioral Health Workforce Crisis. 2023. https://carolinaacross100.unc.edu/responding-to-north-carolinas-behavioral-health-workforce-crisis/
NC DETECT. Annual ED visit trends for mental health conditions. 2024. Accessed Feb 18, 2025. https://ncdetect.org/mental-health-dashboard/.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2020. Accessed September 10, 2024. https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/national-guidelines-for-behavioral-health-crisis-care-02242020.pdf.
Horowitz, L. M., Snyder, D. J., Boudreaux, E. D., He, J. P., Harrington, C. J., Cai, J., ... & Bridge, J. A. (2020). Validation of the ask suicide-screening questions for adult medical inpatients: a brief tool for all ages. Psychosomatics, 61(6), 713-722.
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). Crisis Services. 2024. Accessed March 6, 2025. https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/mental-health-developmental-disabilities-and-substance-use-services/crisis-services.