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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Office of Health and Human Services
www.mass.gov/masshealth

Medical Necessity Criteria
Emergency Services
Mobile Crisis Intervention

Mobile Crisis Intervention is the youth (under the age of 21) -serving component 
of an emergency service program (ESP) provider. Mobile Crisis Intervention will 
provide a short-term service that is a mobile, on-site, face-to-face therapeutic 
response to a youth experiencing a behavioral health crisis for the purpose of 
identifying, assessing, treating, and stabilizing the situation and reducing 
immediate risk of danger to the youth or others consistent with the youth’s risk 
management/safety plan, if any. This service is provided 24 hours a day, 7 days 
a week.  

The service includes: A crisis assessment; development of a risk 
management/safety plan, if the youth/family does not already have one; up to 7 
days of crisis intervention and stabilization services including: on-site face-
to-face therapeutic response, psychiatric consultation and urgent 
psychopharmacology intervention, as needed; and referrals and linkages to all 
medically necessary behavioral health services and supports, including access 
to appropriate services along the behavioral health continuum of care.
For youth who are receiving Intensive Care Coordination (ICC), Mobile Crisis 
Intervention staff will coordinate with the youth’s ICC care coordinator 
throughout the delivery of the service. Mobile Crisis Intervention also will 
coordinate with the youth’s primary care physician, any other care management 
program, or other behavioral health providers providing services to the youth 
throughout the delivery of the service.

Criteria

Admission  
Criteria

All of the following are necessary for admission to this level of care.

1.	The youth must be in a behavioral health crisis that was unable to 
be resolved to the caller’s satisfaction by phone triage. For youth in ICC, 
efforts by the care coordinator and Care Plan Team (CPT) to triage and stabilize 
the crisis have been insufficient to stabilize the crisis and ESP/Mobile Crisis 
Intervention has been contacted. 

2.	Immediate intervention is needed to attempt to stabilize the youth’s 
condition safely in situations that do not require an immediate public safety 
response. 

3.	The youth demonstrates impairment in mood, thought, and/or behavior that 
substantially interferes with functioning at school, home, and/or in the 
community.

                                                                                              


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Admission 
Criteria
       
In addition to the above, at least one of the following must be present:

1.	The youth demonstrates suicidal/assaultive/destructive ideas, 
threats, plans, or actions that represent a risk to self or others. 

2.	The youth is experiencing escalating behavior(s) and, without 
immediate intervention, he/she is likely to require a higher intensity 
of services. 

In addition to the above, at least one of the following must be present:

1.	The youth is in need of clinical intervention in order to resolve the 
crisis and/or to remain stable in the community.

2.	The demands of the situation exceed the parent’s/guardian’s/ 
caregiver’s strengths and capacity to maintain the youth in his/her 
present living environment and external supports are required.

Psychosocial, 
Occupational, and 
Cultural and 
Linguistic Factors

These factors may change the risk assessment and should be 
considered when making level-of-care decisions.

Exclusion Criteria

Consent for an evaluation and mobile crisis intervention services is 
refused.

Continued Stay 
Criteria

Does not apply

Discharge Criteria

Any one of the following criteria is sufficient for discharge from this 
level of care.

1.	The crisis assessment and other relevant information indicate that 
the youth needs a more (or less) intensive level of care and Mobile 
Crisis Intervention has facilitated transfer to the next treatment 
setting and ensured that the risk management/safety plan has been 
communicated to the treatment team at that setting.

2.	The youth’s physical condition necessitates transfer to an inpatient 
medical facility and the Mobile Crisis Intervention provider has communicated 
the youth risk management/safety plan to the receiving provider.

3.	Consent for treatment is withdrawn and there is no court order 
requiring such treatment.




MNC-MCI (Rev. 04/12) 




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