Children’s Minnesota has partnered with Washburn Center for Children, both based in Minneapolis, to address a surge in emergency room visits for pediatric mental health crises.
The collaboration adds a Washburn acute response therapist to Children’s Minnesota emergency departments to coordinate care and connect families to community-based mental health services, according to a Dec. 8 news release. The initiative aims to reduce emergency department boarding, which occurred more than 1,200 times at Children’s Minnesota in 2024.
The program will link families to in-home or community-based support within 72 hours of referral to the therapist, with services including immediate safety and stabilization planning, follow-up therapy coordination and assistance navigating community resources and public systems.
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