Crisis Resolution Service to be established for Donegal

A Crisis Resolution Service for Donegal is set to be established as part of the mental health budget for 2026.

The new service will receive €1.3 million in recurring funding and will see ten new staff being recruited.

The Crisis Resolution Services Model of Care involves Crisis Resolution teams and Crisis Cafés. 

The former are community-based multidisciplinary teams that provide rapid assessment and intensive support to people aged 18 and older who are in a mental health crisis.  The latter, called ‘Solace Cafés’, provides an out-of-hours friendly and supportive crisis prevention and response service.

The support from the Crisis Resolution teams will be time-limited and the teams have flexibility to respond to different service user or carer needs, for an average period of up to six weeks. They use a blended approach to the location of treatment – with a mix of care in the home, community settings or virtually. They work within extended hours of operation with a shared rota across multi-disciplinary teams and will optimally offer a seven-day service.

The Crisis Cafés run in partnership with different community agencies across the country. The Cafés are open in the evenings and at weekends and provide a welcoming, non-clinical, safe environment in the style of a café.

The announcement was made by Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler, who formally launched the Crisis Resolution Services Model of Care in 2023.

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 “This is an excellent initiative, and I thank Minister Butler and her team for their work on this much-needed service for Donegal,” Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State with responsibility for Sport and Postal Policy, said. “I accompanied Minister Butler when she visited Donegal and met with those who work in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the new SCAN U team in Letterkenny last month. The Minister was extremely impressed with the work that is being done by the mental health professionals in Donegal and she had good engagement with the various teams.

“The people who come to Solace Cafés can learn about coping strategies and access a range of supports – including one-to-one, peer, psychosocial and recovery supports. When appropriate, Café staff assist people by signposting them to other relevant mental health and well-being services locally.”