Most people think about crisis services as telephone intervention, a suicide hotline, and/or mobile response, and they are right. Family & Children’s Service’s Community Outreach Psychiatric Emergency Services (COPES and COPES for Kids) is that, but it’s also so much more.
As Oklahoma’s only 24-7 free mobile crisis program serving adults and children in psychiatric crisis, COPES prevents suicide by providing the least restrictive level of care.
What sets COPES apart from other hot lines and mobile crisis service programs across the United States is that most are fragmented and do not provide the full continuum of crisis care stabilization services.
Because COPES serves both adults and children under the same roof as the CrisisCare Center (CCC), they can offer a full continuum of services including a 23-hour Urgent Recovery Clinic (URC), crisis beds, collaboration with other providers and intense follow-up after discharge. Additionally, crisis clients can easily receive a warm hand off to a variety of other programs provided by F&CS (the state’s largest outpatient community mental health center).
COPES uses a sophisticated telephone system and staffing pattern that allows the program to respond effectively and rapidly to crises. The high-tech phone system allows therapists to receive emergency calls from those in need, and dispatch that information to those who respond, much like that of 911 operators.
Finally, COPES’ uniqueness is characterized by its staff’s commitment to following up with clients to check on their recovery progress and whether they can access needed care after stabilization.
If you or someone that you know is in crisis, you can contact COPES at (918) 744-4800.
