Children and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric Service
ChAMPS (Child and Adolescent Mobile Psychiatric Service) is an emergency response service for children, teenagers and adolescent adults who are having a mental health or behavioral health crisis. We are an emergency service that works in close partnership with hospitals and police to provide help for children living in DC facing a behavioral or mental health crisis. We come to your home or your child’s school the same day at no charge to you.
OUR SERVICES
This service is provided at no cost to District residents and DC foster children in foster placement in Maryland. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for children and youth ages 6 to 18.
This service is designed to help children manage extreme emotional behavior and assist families so that the behavior does not result in a child leaving the home. We come to you – wherever you need immediate help – to assess the situation and determine the best course of action.
Our team will provide in-home assistance when appropriate or arrange temporary placement in a respite home or other emergency setting as needed. The team also will assess whether a child’s behavior poses a danger, requiring possible psychiatric inpatient hospitalization.