The developmental, social, and clinical needs of youth are different from those of adults. A robust crisis 
continuum of care is needed that specifically can meet the needs of youth and families in their homes 
and communities whenever possible. The essential elements of a community-based crisis service array 
are someone to contact (crisis call lines), someone to respond (mobile response teams), and a safe place 
to be (this includes a system to support the youth and family including home- and community-based 
stabilization services as well as acute care such as inpatient care). Although ideally a youth can be cared 
for at home, the important element is that they have a safe place to be, and this might include a crisis 
stabilization location or inpatient care. Still, stabilization services at home should not be considered an 
alternative to a robust continuum of care (including acute care) but rather are critically necessary 
services nested within a service array. While mobile response can and should be designed to respond to 
an immediate incident, de-escalate the situation, and begin the process of stabilization, states and 
localities must ensure they also have sufficient capacity to refer for and deliver stabilization services. 
Stabilization components must be provided to the youth and family as soon as practicable and may 
continue for up to six to eight weeks, depending on youth and/or family preferences, and clinical and 
functional needs of the family system. This paper reviews the need for and components of crisis 
stabilization services for children, youth, young adults, and their families.