Crisis Relief Centers (Adult and Minor)

Crisis Relief Centers (CRCs) are licensed by the Department of Health (DOH). A CRC is an outpatient (23 hour) facility that provides a person in a behavioral health crisis with a place to go when they are in a behavioral health crisis as an alternative to a less desirable location, like an emergency room, involuntary treatment facility, or jail. Crisis diversion facilities are typically structured to receive clients dropped off by police or emergency medical personnel, and may also accept clients who walk in or who are brought by friends or family.

Licensing Information

All CRCs are licensed under a Behavioral Health Agency (BHA) license with a Certification of Crisis Relief Center.

All licensing applications are reviewed within a few days of receipt. If there is missing or incomplete information, a Department of Health staff member will notify you via the email address on the application. If you didn't provide an email address, the department will mail you a letter.

Processing time varies for each application. It depends on how complete the application is, and how quickly the licensing requirements are met.

Apply for a BHA license.

EMS Guidelines Transport to Behavioral Health Facilities

The Washington State Department of Health (department), developed this guideline (PDF) to provide direction to regional emergency medical service (EMS) & trauma care councils for developing patient care procedures, local EMS councils with

developing county operating procedures and EMS physician medical program directors (MPD) in developing their prehospital patient care protocols for EMS transport to behavioral health facilities

Inspection Process

Our inspection staff includes both nurses and public health advisers. Nurses assess the clinical aspects of the facility. Public health advisers inspect the physical aspects for environment of care issues. In addition, we contract with the state fire marshal to inspect for fire, life and safety standards.

After the inspection is completed, the facility is provided with a report indicating the standards that were met and the deficiencies that were identified. The inspection team works with the facility to explain how the deficiencies were identified and requires that the facility provide an adequate written plan for addressing the deficiencies. For example: WAC 246-341 Policy and Procedure Review Tool (PDF).