WARM for Mental Health Emergencies - Washburn Center for Children

Washburn Acute Response Model (WARM)

Healing families after a mental-health-related E.R. visit

You gain a personal advocate after a mental health emergency

It’s an unrelenting trend: youth in mental health crisis are landing in emergency departments. If you are walking down this path with your child, you know — it’s heart wrenching. We understand.

Daily life can feel overwhelming and isolating, yet know this: you are not alone. Our staff can walk alongside you.

The WARM program is an innovative and vital service for families following an ER or clinic visit in crisis. There is hope, even when your family is navigating through an acute mental health crisis. Research shows that youth who receive therapeutic support after a mental-health-related emergency room visit are less likely to have another life threatening incident.

Connect to this innovative form of post-E.R. care

If your family needs this support after a mental health related emergency, please note that a WARM-contracted hospital system referral is required. Hospital systems in the Twin Cities currently include Allina, Children’s Minnesota and M Health Fairview.

Take the first steps toward healing

Clinicians support families in the WARM program by building upon the family’s innate strengths and resources, providing safety planning, developing strategies for increased stability, strengthening relationships and connecting families with additional services.

This unique model, pioneered by Washburn Center and Allina, puts clinicians with families in their homes for up to 5 sessions to increase stability, strengthen relationships and connect to new and customized services. Therapists offer a 24-hour on-call service and collaborate with other providers to identify needs and develop strategies for increased stability.

Services may include:

Crisis Stabilization therapy/support
Safety plan development and implementation
Case Management
Care coordination

Following a depressive episode, 11-year-old Rosie’s life was at risk, so an ER room was the safest place for 6 days (and nights) as she waited for options.

Barely a month after her discharge, Rosie relapsed into crisis at school and returned to the same ER. It’s a heart-wrenching repetitive cycle for families – and hard for health care providers and systems to handle.

Kids like Rosie who receive specialized mental health support post-E.R. are less likely to relapse. Early intervention makes a measurable difference for a child and is proven to produce positive outcomes.

Impact: Children that receive emergency mental health after care like the WARM program are proven to experience fewer hospital readmissions for mental health reasons and spent less time in the inpatient hospital units.

“We were shocked when ‘R’ was sent home from the E.R. with no support after a life-threatening panic attack. She was back in the hospital a week later. When we connected with WARM after that second visit, we were able to find stability and calm as we began the journey toward long-term healing. And, we as her parents finally didn’t feel alone. ”

thankful parent of a 12-year-old

Access One-of-a-kind Youth Emergency Mental Health

This unique model, pioneered by Washburn Center and Allina, pairs a family with a therapist who specializes in transitional support to families following doctor or hospital assessment for a child’s or teen’s mental health crisis.

The alarming rise in repeat ED visits and lack of after-care is why Washburn Center and Allina teamed up in 2018 to launch the Washburn Acute Response Model (WARM). This program, which started in one hospital in the Twin Cities, now serves more than 15 Allina hospitals and clinics as well as Children’s Minnesota – and starting in May 2023 will grow to include M Health Fairview’s hospital system to innovative mental health aftercare to even more families.

Ask your clinic or ER staff if they can connect you to clinicians who specialize in helping stabilize and develop a plan that is customized to your child and family’s circumstances.

Referral Information

Allina Hospitals and Clinics
- Abbott NW
- Bandana Square Clinic
- Bloomington Clinic
- Buffalo
- Cambridge ED
- Coon Rapids Clinic
- Cottage Grove Clinic
- Dean Lakes
- District One
- East Lake Street
- Faribault
- Forest Lake
- Greenway
- Hastings
- Maplewood
- Mercy / Unity
- New Ulm
- Nicollet Mall
- Northfield
- Owatonna
- St. Francis
- Ramsey Clinic
- United
- West Health
- West St Paul
- Woodbury

Children’s Minnesota
- Lakeville
- Minneapolis
- Roseville
- St. Paul
M Health Fairview
- UMMC Masonic Hospital
- UMMC West Bank (Riverside)