Mental Health Crisis Help in Berks County: Who to Call

If you or someone near you is in a mental health crisis in Berks County, call or text 988, the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call the county's 24-hour crisis line at 610-379-2007. If someone is in immediate physical danger, has seriously hurt themselves, or has a weapon, call 911 first.

Both lines are free, answer around the clock, and take calls from the person in crisis or from someone calling for them. The county says it subcontracts that service; Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems' own pages and the county's 2025 Consumer Resource Guide identify Holcomb as the provider at 401 Buttonwood Street in West Reading. The line is also the door to a mobile crisis team, a walk-in center at that address, and the county "delegate" who decides whether someone can be taken to a hospital against their will.

The numbers, in the order to try them

1. 911, if there is immediate danger. Tower Health's behavioral health page says that if a crisis "puts you or others at risk, call 911 immediately." Police in Pennsylvania can start an involuntary evaluation on the spot (see the 302 section below).
2. 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. The Lifeline says it "is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential." Veterans press 1 (or text 838255; no VA enrollment is needed). Spanish speakers press 2, or text AYUDA to 988, per the Lifeline's Get Help page. TTY users dial 711 then 988, per the Lifeline's FAQ.
3. 610-379-2007, the Berks County crisis line. The county's Crisis Intervention Services page calls it "the 24-hour crisis telephone number," operating with the walk-in service from 401 Buttonwood Street, West Reading, PA 19611. Holcomb's Berks County Crisis Center page says services "are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are free to the residents of Berks County," serve "children, adolescents and adults," and have staff "fluent in Spanish and or access to a language line." Chimes' Berks County Crisis Center location page gives the same 401 Buttonwood Street address with a toll-free line, 888-219-3910, which the county's 2025 Consumer Resource Guide also prints for "Holcomb Crisis Intervention of Berks County"; the ruOK Berks suicide-prevention site lists both 610-379-2007 and 1-888-219-3910 without naming a provider. The Chimes location page also lists a program line, 610-947-1987, that appears on no county page; for a crisis, use 610-379-2007, the number the county and Holcomb's main page both give.
4. Text lines. ruOK Berks and the county's parents' guide say to text ruOK to 484-816-ruOK (484-816-7865). The national Crisis Text Line answers texts of HOME or HOLA to 741741, "24/7, free, confidential."
5. If you have Medicaid, Community Care Behavioral Health, which manages mental health benefits for Berks Medicaid members, says on its Berks page: "Call us any day, any time at 1-833-822-3010."

What happens when you call

The 988 Lifeline describes its call flow on its What to Expect page: hold music while you are connected, then "a counselor will say hello and introduce themselves. Your skilled counselor will ask you if you are safe," and after that the counselor "will listen to you, understand how your problem is affecting you, provide support, and share any resources that may be helpful." Texts and chats follow the same pattern.

The Berks line can do more than talk. Holcomb's page lists three services:

• Telephone crisis counseling: "counseling, consultation, education and referral" for the person in crisis or for "the family, friends, colleagues, school staff and/or agencies calling on behalf of an individual."
• A crisis walk-in center, open "Monday-Friday 8am-4pm, call ahead preferred," at the Buttonwood Street address.
• Community-based mobile outreach, "a response team that will go to any location in which a county resident is experiencing a crisis."

Chimes' location page also describes a stabilization program at the center, a "voluntary, unlocked, trauma-informed setting" for Berks residents 18 and older that serves "up to 6 individuals at a time" and "accepts CCBH, Medicare, uninsured, and some private insurance (case-by-case)."

The county page says the subcontracted service includes "the delegate service. This service is evaluation of dangerousness and involuntary hospitalization." If talking is not enough, the same phone call reaches the people who can authorize a 302.

Service Access & Management, Inc. (SAM) runs the county's mental health intake for the uninsured (610-236-0530), but SAM's own site says its emergency delegate services operate "in these locations: Tioga, and Centre Counties." In Berks the delegate function sits inside the subcontracted crisis service, the one Holcomb and the county resource guide identify as Holcomb's.

Emergency rooms

If the person needs medical care, go to an emergency department. Tower Health says its "emergency departments have behavioral health providers available 24/7" and lists the Reading Hospital Emergency Department, 420 S. 5th Avenue, West Reading, PA 19611, (484) 628-8000, "Open 24/7."

Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center's emergency department, 2500 Bernville Road, Reading, PA 19605, is listed as "Open 24 hours," 610-378-2000. Penn State Health's psychiatry page lists child, adolescent and adult inpatient services without naming a Berks location, and links a July 13, 2026, notice, "Penn State Health relocates inpatient psychiatric services to Holy Spirit Medical Center," which concerns inpatient services "previously provided at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute (PPI)" and says outpatient care "will remain in Harrisburg"; it does not mention St. Joseph or Reading. Call 610-378-2000 first and ask where a psychiatric patient would be admitted.

Voluntary admission, the "201"

Pennsylvania's Mental Health Procedures Act, the 1976 state law that governs psychiatric treatment, lets people choose treatment for themselves. Section 201 says: "Any person 14 years of age or over who believes that he is in need of treatment and substantially understands the nature of voluntary treatment may submit himself to examination and treatment under this act, provided that the decision to do so is made voluntarily." A parent or guardian decides for a child under 14.

A voluntary patient can leave. Section 206 says the person "may withdraw at any time by giving written notice," unless they agreed in writing at admission that release could be delayed for a period set in that agreement, "provided that such period shall not exceed 72 hours."

Involuntary commitment, the "302"

A 302 is an involuntary emergency examination under section 302 of the Mental Health Procedures Act (50 P.S. § 7302). It applies only to someone "severely mentally disabled and in need of immediate treatment," which section 301 defines as a person whose mental illness has so lessened their "capacity to exercise self-control, judgment and discretion" that they pose "a clear and present danger of harm to others or to himself." The danger has to be shown by conduct "within the past 30 days," and each route carries a "reasonable probability" test: harm to others, when the person "has inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another and that there is a reasonable probability that such conduct will be repeated"; inability to care for oneself, when the person would be unable "to satisfy his need for nourishment, personal or medical care, shelter, or self-protection and safety, and that there is a reasonable probability that death, serious bodily injury or serious physical debilitation would ensue within 30 days"; a suicide attempt with "the reasonable probability of suicide"; or self-harm, when the person "has substantially mutilated himself or attempted to mutilate himself substantially and that there is the reasonable probability of mutilation unless adequate treatment is afforded." Threats count when paired with action: the law says danger "may be demonstrated by the proof that the person has made threats to commit suicide and has committed acts which are in furtherance of the threat to commit suicide."

How one starts, in the order the statute lists:

1. A physician certifies the need for an examination; or the county administrator (the county's appointed mental health administrator under 55 Pa. Code § 5100.2, who "shall designate representatives to issue warrants" under § 5100.21, and whom Form MH 783 calls the "County Mental Health Administrator, or their official delegate") issues a warrant after "written application by a physician or other responsible party" setting out the facts; or "any physician or peace officer, or anyone authorized by the county administrator" who has personally observed the conduct takes the person to a facility without a warrant. The state's MH 783 form (revised May 2025) tells any other petitioner to "contact the County Mental Health Administrator in the county where the individual in need of services is located." In Berks, the county says that delegate work is part of the subcontracted crisis service, so a family member asking for a 302 starts by calling 610-379-2007; during business hours the county MH/DD office, 610-478-3271, is the County Mental Health Administrator's office that the form names, and the regulations say that office "shall assist petitioners with the preparation of the commitment petitions" (55 Pa. Code § 5100.21).
2. The person is taken to an approved facility; the regulations tell the escort to "use the least force necessary" (55 Pa. Code § 5100.86). The state's OMHSAS Bulletin 23-04 says a warrant "lives for hours, not days," and that the 120-hour clock "begins once the individual is presented at the evaluation location" (it replaced a 2022 bulletin on the same question).
3. A physician examines the person "within two hours of arrival." If the doctor does not find the person severely mentally disabled and in need of immediate treatment, "the person shall be discharged and returned to such place as he may reasonably direct."
4. On arrival the person must be told the reasons for the examination, given "reasonable use of the telephone," asked for the names of people to notify, and, under the regulations, "informed of his right to counsel."
5. The hold ends "whenever it is determined that he no longer is in need of treatment and in any event within 120 hours," unless the person signs in voluntarily or the hospital files for a 303.

For minors, the regulations allow involuntary emergency examination and treatment only in an approved facility with a program "appropriate to the person" for ages 14 through 17, and "appropriate to the child" for ages 5 through 13 (55 Pa. Code § 5100.84).

The 303 hearing and beyond

If the hospital believes treatment must continue past 120 hours, it files under section 303. The application goes to the Court of Common Pleas, which "shall appoint an attorney who shall represent the person" unless they hire their own. "Within 24 hours after the application is filed, an informal hearing shall be conducted by a judge or by a mental health review officer and, if practicable, shall be held at the facility." A physician explains why continued treatment is needed, and the person or their lawyer may question the witnesses. If the judge or review officer certifies the need, treatment may continue "for a period not to exceed 20 days"; otherwise the person is discharged. Court-ordered treatment under section 304 runs up to 90 days, per the state's state hospital summary. If a crisis ends in criminal charges instead, our guide to the court process after an arrest covers what follows.

What the county does, and who pays for care

The Berks County Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Program is on the 8th floor of the Berks County Services Center, 633 Court Street, Reading, PA 19601, phone 610-478-3271, open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., per its homepage. Its homepage sends crisis callers to 610-379-2007.

The office pays for care two ways. For people without insurance, its treatment services page says to "contact Service Access & Management at 610-236-0530 and ask to speak with the Mental Health Intake Department," because "you must obtain authorization through Service Access and Management" for county-funded services, a list that includes outpatient treatment, partial hospitalization and "Acute, Inpatient Hospitalization Services-302 Commitments." For people on Medicaid, the county runs the HealthChoices behavioral health program and, per its HealthChoices page, "has selected Community Care Behavioral Health Organization (CCBH)" as its managed-care partner; the state's BH-MCO list agrees. CCBH's Berks member services line is 1-866-292-7886, Spanish 1-866-229-3187, TTY 711 then request 1-833-545-9191.

Crisis calls cost nothing: 988 says it is free, Holcomb says its Berks services are free to county residents, and the county's parents' guide prints "NO COST! Available to anyone in Berks County regardless of insurance coverage." None of the sources we checked price an emergency-room visit or a hospital stay. If you have no insurance, the Medicaid application runs through the state's Berks County Assistance Office, covered in our guide to that office; the parents' guide notes that "children with disabilities may be eligible for Medical Assistance based on medical need, not family income."

Children and teens

The Berks crisis line serves children and adolescents, and the county's parents' guide puts the crisis number and the ruOK text line at the top of its list of services. Beyond that:

• The Student Assistance Program at your child's school. The parents' guide says to "contact the guidance counselor at your child's school" for an evaluation; "this service is free and not billed to insurance."
• The county's CASSP coordinator (Child and Adolescent Service System Program), whose work the MH/DD homepage describes as "service planning for children and families involved with 2 or more child serving systems," is reached through the MH/DD office, 610-478-3271, per the CASSP page.
• Safe2Say Something, run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, takes anonymous tips about someone who "may be a threat to themselves or others" through its app, its website or 1-844-SAF2SAY; its crisis center reviews each tip and "sends all submissions to school administration and/or law enforcement for intervention."

On consent, Act 65 of 2020 governs minors 14 to 17, per the state DHS. Under the act's text, a minor 14 or older "may consent on the minor's own behalf" without a parent, and a parent may consent for a child under 18 when a physician, licensed clinical psychologist or other mental health professional finds inpatient treatment necessary, "and the minor's consent shall not be necessary." Neither can cancel the other's consent. A voluntary inpatient admission of a 14- to 17-year-old still comes with notice to the parents, "by telephone when possible" and in writing (55 Pa. Code § 5100.74).

Police and crisis training

Berks County officers are being trained in the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model. A May 12, 2025, state release from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency says Berks County's CIT trainings, "established in January of 2024," are led by the Mental Health Forensic Diversion Team at Connections Work with the county MH/DD office and Alvernia University, and had trained "67 first responders, law enforcement officers, and other professionals." CIT is training, not a separate number to call. We found no official page describing a Berks co-responder program that pairs clinicians with officers; if you want a mental health worker at the scene rather than police, ask the crisis line for mobile outreach.

If the crisis involves violence or threats from a partner or family member, a protection from abuse order is a separate, free court process; see our PFA guide.

After the crisis: finding ongoing care

The county's parents' guide lays out the routes by insurance, and they apply to adults too. With private insurance, "call the toll free number on the back of the insurance card." With Medicaid, call CCBH at 1-866-292-7886 or use its provider search. With no insurance, call SAM at 610-236-0530 for an intake. The county's community resources page says 2-1-1 answers 24/7 for referrals, including mental health counseling, but "is NOT for emergency medical situations."

FAQ

Can I have a family member committed in Berks County?

You can ask. Under section 302, a "responsible party" may apply in writing to the county administrator or delegate, who decides whether the facts show a clear and present danger and, if so, issues a warrant. In Berks that starts with the crisis line, 610-379-2007. A physician must then examine the person within two hours. To hold someone past 120 hours, the facility must file a section 303 application within that time, and "within 24 hours after the application is filed, an informal hearing shall be conducted by a judge or by a mental health review officer."

Is the Berks County crisis line the same as 988?

No. 988 is the national Lifeline; its counselor listens, asks about safety and shares resources. The Berks line, 610-379-2007, is the county's contracted crisis center in West Reading, which can also send a mobile team, see you at its walk-in center weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and handle the 302 delegate function.

How long can a hospital hold someone against their will in Pennsylvania?

Up to 120 hours under a 302. To hold someone longer, the facility must file a section 303 application in the Court of Common Pleas within those 120 hours; the court appoints a lawyer, and an informal hearing before a judge or mental health review officer follows within 24 hours of the filing. A 303 certification allows up to 20 more days, and a section 304 court order up to 90.

Can a teenager consent to mental health treatment without a parent?

At 14 or older, yes: Act 65 of 2020 lets a minor 14 to 17 consent to outpatient or inpatient treatment on their own, and a parent may also consent on the teen's behalf when a mental health professional finds inpatient care necessary. For a voluntary inpatient admission, state regulations still require that parents be notified. Under 14, a parent or guardian decides.

What does crisis help cost?

Nothing to call 988, the Berks crisis line or the text lines, which all say they are free; CCBH's page does not state a charge for its crisis line. Emergency-room care and hospital stays are billed like other medical care, and none of the official pages we checked state a price; if you have no coverage, apply for Medicaid through the Berks County Assistance Office.

Sources

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: homepage, Get Help, What to Expect and FAQ; Veterans Crisis Line; Crisis Text Line.
• Berks County Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities Program: homepage, Crisis Intervention Services, County-Funded Treatment and Support Services, HealthChoices Program, CASSP, Community Resources, A Guide for Parents Seeking Mental Health Services for Children (rev. August 2021), A Guide to Human Services in Berks County by Age (September 2019) and the Consumer Resource Guide 2025.
• Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems (Chimes): Berks County Crisis Services and the Berks County Crisis Center location page; Service Access & Management: County Programs; ruOK Berks.
• Community Care Behavioral Health: Berks County members; Pa. DHS Behavioral Health MCOs and counties served.
• Mental Health Procedures Act, Act 143 of 1976 (50 P.S. §§ 7201, 7206, 7301 to 7304); 55 Pa. Code Chapter 5100; OMHSAS Bulletin 23-04 (May 11, 2023); Form MH 783 (5/25); OMHSAS state mental hospitals one-pager (2025); Pa. DHS Act 65 of 2020 and the act's text.
• Tower Health: Behavioral Health & Addiction, Inpatient Behavioral Health, Reading Hospital Emergency Department. Penn State Health: Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, St. Joseph Medical Center Emergency, July 13, 2026, relocation notice.
• Safe2Say Something and What is Safe2Say Something?; Pa. Commission on Crime and Delinquency, CIT Technical Assistance Center release (May 12, 2025).

Crisis lines: 988 (call, text or chat at chat.988lifeline.org; Veterans press 1; Spanish press 2; TTY 711 then 988), 24 hours. Berks County Crisis Intervention (Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems): 610-379-2007, 24 hours; toll-free 888-219-3910 (Chimes location page, county resource guide); walk-in center 401 Buttonwood Street, West Reading, PA 19611, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., call ahead. Text ruOK to 484-816-7865; text HOME to 741741. Community Care Behavioral Health (Berks Medicaid): crisis 1-833-822-3010, member services 1-866-292-7886, Spanish 1-866-229-3187, TTY 711 then request 1-833-545-9191. Berks County MH/DD Program: 633 Court Street, 8th Floor, Reading, PA 19601; 610-478-3271; fax 610-478-4980; Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Service Access & Management intake (uninsured): 610-236-0530. Reading Hospital Emergency Department: 420 S. 5th Avenue, West Reading, PA 19611, (484) 628-8000, 24 hours. Penn State Health St. Joseph Emergency: 2500 Bernville Road, Reading, PA 19605, 610-378-2000, 24 hours. Safe2Say Something: 1-844-SAF2SAY. 2-1-1 for referrals. Corrections: corrections@berksbeat.com.