The 2025 National Guidelines for a Behavioral Health Coordinated System of Crisis Care (2025 National Crisis Guidelines) establishes a framework to transform behavioral health crisis care systems and reduce the impact of substance use and mental illness on communities throughout the United States. Spearheaded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), these guidelines aim to provide equitable, accessible, and effective responses to behavioral health crises, and support program design, development, implementation, and continuous quality improvement for behavioral health crisis care throughout the nation. This update is spurred by the country’s transition to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline), as well as recent progress and emerging needs in the field related to behavioral health crisis system transformation. The 2025 National Crisis Guidelines will accomplish three goals:

1. Establish overarching principles for behavioral health crisis system transformation;
2. Clarify the various elements that comprise the continuum; and
3. Offer guidance to support the systematic coordination of these elements to create and sustain behavioral health crisis systems.