The role of psychiatric emergency services in aiding community alternatives to hospitalization in an inner-city population.

In the proper political/economic environment, Crisis Intervention Programs can reduce the recidivism rate of patients who suffer from recurrent intermittent acute psychotic episodes. The author seeks to outline such a program and demonstrate its effectiveness in providing an alternative to brief hospitalization. It is believed that this form of management of the psychiatric emergency aids the practice of community psychiatry and supports the use of day treatment facilities, outpatient clinics, emergency housing, family therapy, and other community support systems.