My understanding of the proposed/potential changes being suggested will be devastating to our community during a time when the need for emergency mental health care is at its greatest.  As a practicing mental health therapist in a high risk population, it is already challenging to navigate the process of getting a client inpatient and crisis care during the acute crisis.  This seems like a drastic response to evident shortages when a more appropriate response would address how to compensate for it and get hands on deck including finding funding for these positions, increasing incentives for these roles, and not making it more difficult for psychiatry staff to do assessments at time of admissions by demanding it be immediate or not at all.  To be frank, solutions like routing pre-admission screenings to a regional hotline and potentially needing to close a CSU, like New Horizons, which is a lifeline for my clients, is absolutely absurd.  This is the opposite of helpful and will do harm.  There will be lives lost.  Please consider delaying this action and coming up with other solutions that allow for crossover care from those that hold other licenses and address the shortage.