Ramsey County Children's Mental Health Collaborative

Inpatient Criteria

• Imminent threat or acute crisis such as suicidal ideation/plan, self-harm, or significant risk to self or others that are due to a mental health disorder or significant stress, trauma or triggering event. 

• A safety or medical issue requires 24/7 monitoring or medication management. This includes significant impairment in reality testing, judgment, or ability to care for self that requires psychiatric assessment in a safe secure environment.

• Acute withdrawal/ detoxification from substance use.

• Youth with a primary mental health diagnosis has failed to respond to a lesser level of care.

A "behavior crisis" is NOT typically considered criteria for inpatient hospitalization. 

• An episode of severe behavior dysregulation. For example- severe agitation, aggression, or uncooperative behaviors.

• The underlying cause might be a medical condition, infection, brain injury, drug or medication reaction, acute pain, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Disability or other developmental disability. 

• Crisis Response teams, Mental Health Urgent Care, and Emergency Departments can assess safety/risk, identify underlying causes, and provide interventions to manage the behavior escalation. Sometimes, they will refer to inpatient care for the safety and medical reasons described above.