Children and teens who struggle with suicidal thoughts, severe anxiety, depression, or other urgent behavioral health crises need immediate support. Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) and Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) have worked together to provide that kind of help in the emergency room for many years.
Now, a new Crisis Intervention Center (CIC) provides emergency behavioral health care for children and families in a separate, family-friendly space embedded in the emergency department at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital. A ribbon cutting event was held on July 21, 2026, and the center is now open to patients.
The CIC is Connecticut’s only hospital-based urgent crisis center, developed in close collaboration with YCSC. It was designed as a safe space where children 15 years old and younger—and their families—can feel comfortable and supported.
YNHH President Katherine Heilpern, MD, considers the CIC opening a milestone in the long-time partnership between the hospital and YCSC. “This center represents a critical advancement in how we care for children and families experiencing mental health emergencies,” she says.
Heilpern also shares that the CIC would not have been possible without the strong vision and leadership of YCSC Chair Linda Mayes, MD, and Beth Heinz, senior vice president for women's and children's services at YNHH. “It’s meant to be a calming space, and a place for families to feel heard the moment they walk through the door, during what is often the most challenging time in their lives,” says Mayes.
“We see this facility as a dramatically different and much needed new approach to mental health care for youth—taking a crisis and making it not just manageable but the start of helping a young person get back on track and offering a compassionate entry into mental health care,” Mayes adds.
The new center was made possible through support from the Connecticut Department of Children and Families and the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Funding for the center’s group therapy room was provided by the Timken Foundation.