24-Hour Crisis & Substance Use Helpline
If harm to self or others is imminent, call 911. Answered 365 days a year — you do not need to be certain it qualifies as a crisis to call.
What crisis care looks like here
Crisis care is not one service. Depending on what is happening, it can mean a phone call, an assessment, a safe place to be observed, or a route into treatment that does not involve a jail cell or an emergency room.
-
The 24-hour helpline
Answered every day of the year by staff who can assess what is happening and connect you with the right next step, whether or not you are already a client.
-
Crisis Care Center
24-hour assessment and intervention for psychiatric crisis at the Restoration Center — crisis resolution, extended observation, and coordination into alternative care. Walk-ins welcome.
-
Mental health warrant assistance
Assistance with mental health warrant applications is provided for families and law enforcement navigating an emergency detention.
-
Children’s crisis intervention
Crisis intervention for children and adolescents, connecting families with the appropriate level of care as quickly as possible — outpatient, intensive services, or a higher level of care.
-
Detoxification
A Residential Detoxification Unit provides a safe place to complete withdrawal from alcohol and drugs, with staff support toward continued treatment.
-
Complex Care
For people cycling between psychiatric inpatient units, rearrests, and jail, the Complex Care program works to redirect toward independence and purpose.
When to call
People often wait because they are not sure the situation is serious enough. It is. Suicidal thoughts or actions should never be dismissed, and the helpline is the fastest route to behavioral health support.
- Thoughts of suicide, a plan for suicide, or talking about having no purpose or no way out
- Thoughts of harming someone else
- Being unable to care for yourself — not eating, not sleeping, unable to manage basic daily needs
- Escalating substance use, or withdrawal that feels unsafe
- A sharp withdrawal from family and friends, or giving away possessions
Clinical review pending. This list needs sign-off from a CHCS clinician before launch.
For law enforcement
CHCS is law enforcement’s first choice for diverting people with behavioral health needs away from costly incarceration and emergency room visits. Officers do not need to call ahead — bring the person to the Restoration Center at 601 N. Frio St.