Family Response

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your child's mental, behavioral, or emotional needs? Family Response can help, with immediate, in-person support and stabilization for youth and their parents/caregivers.

Available to families with children ages 5-18 at no cost
Driven by your family’s cultural, community, and clinical needs

There are no specific criteria required to initiate Family Response, but concerns may include children or youth who are:

Having a hard time with a family member or change in the home
Showing aggression or anger
Feeling down or less engaged
Experiencing worry and concern
Having issues at school

Our goal is to keep youth and families stable in their homes by helping you determine and connect to the support you need to thrive.

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Get immediate, in-person support

Call Family Response

612-979-9511
Available every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

When you call, staff will gather basic information and send a family response team to your location within one hour.

The family response team will:

De-escalate and address the immediate concern
Engage and support your family over the next 72 hours
Connect you to other supports, including an optional eight-week stabilization service

After hours or for emergencies, call 911 or the Cope mobile crisis line.

Ongoing stabilization

After the initial 72 hours, a free, optional eight-week culturally specific stabilization service can help promote your family’s well-being:

Support healthy, safe behavior and your child’s ability to manage their daily activities
Build connections in your family and to ongoing supports in the community

More about Family Response

Towards a system of care

To transform the children’s mental health system, we’re building a system of care: a coordinated continuum of mental health services, designed to meet individual youth and family needs in the least restrictive and most appropriate setting. Systems of care are culturally responsive and focused on the strengths of youth within families.

Family Response is a core service in a system of care. The model is effective in reducing hospitalizations and other out-of-home placements by providing families with immediate, upstream support.

Results

Family Response launched in August 2021. Outcomes from 30-day follow-ups with families:

89% of youth had no law enforcement involvement
89% of youth had no emergency department visits
67% of youth were living with their same caregivers

In addition, 100% of families were connected to at least one community resource through Family Response.

Partners and providers

Hennepin County works with community agencies to deliver the Family Response service.

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