Kathy Wright is a clinical social worker with over 30 years’ experience working in mental health, primarily in community-based, intensive and urgent services. Kathy has provided street outreach and supportive housing to unhoused veterans, helped operate a drop-in center and intensive treatment program for severely and persistently mentally ill adults, delivered in-home and in-school family therapy to children/youth/families in rural areas, provided mental health services for children/youth/families in a psychiatric hospital, and directed a Home Based Crisis Intervention program and outpatient mental health clinic with associated school-based mental health clinics. Kathy now helps create, implement and support mental health crisis programs for children, youth and families across New York State. She strongly believes that mental health services need to be accessible and community-based, and that mental health treatment and support extends beyond traditional mental health services. She is excited to share information about Crisis Stabilization Centers, and how they can be a resource for first responders seeking to support the mental health needs of their communities.