Access to Crisis Services
For immediate access to routine or crisis services, please call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225. GCAL is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year to help you or someone you care for in a crisis. GCAL professionals will:
Provide telephonic crisis intervention services
Dispatch mobile crisis teams
Assist individuals in finding an open crisis or detox bed across the State
Link individuals with urgent appointment services
In addition, GCAL will help you to access a State Funded provider in your area in a non-emergency as well.
Georgia’s youth can now access GCAL’s services via text and chat through a new app called My GCAL, which became available for download in late January 2019. Developed by Behavioral Health Link, the app will allow youth to call, text, or chat with GCAL 24/7/365. Help is in your pocket–just a click away. The caring professionals of GCAL are ready to help, and users can choose how they want to reach out.
Key Functions
GCAL provides telephonic crisis intervention, clinical triage, and referral for Georgians in need 24/7/365.
Other key functions of GCAL include:
24/7/365 Mobile Crisis Dispatch for all State Funded Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Mobile Crisis Response Teams
24/7/365 Single Point of Entry for State Contracted Inpatient Beds
24/7/365 Preferred Point of Entry for Crisis Stabilization Units and State Hospitals
24/7/365 Initial Authorization for CSU, State Hospital, and State Contracted Inpatient Bed Admissions
Related Policies
DBHDD has policies in place that address contractual expectations related to access to services for Individuals and sets forth acuity guidelines to specify timeframe expectations based on the urgency of the Individual’s needs.
Policy (01-200): Comprehensive Community Provider (CCP) Standards for Georgia’s Tier 1 Behavioral Health Safety Net
Policy (01-230): Community Medicaid Provider (CMP) Standards for Georgia’s Tier 2 Behavioral Health Services