BACKGROUND: In 2000/01 crisis resolution and home treatment (CRHT) teams were introduced in England and have been associated in previous studies with reductions in in-patient admissions. AIMS: To examine whether the implementation of CRHT teams has been associated with reductions in admissions. METHOD: We used data from a previous national study for 229 primary care trusts (PCTs) between 1998/99 and 2003/04. We used a robust policy evaluation methodology to simultaneously examine temporal changes (PCTs before versus after the introduction of CRHT teams) and cross-sectional changes (PCTs with and without CRHT teams). RESULTS: Controlling for various confounding factors, using different control groups and estimation methods, we find no significant differences in admissions between PCTs with and without CRHT teams. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to previous studies, we find no evidence that the CRHT policy per se has made any difference to admissions and suggest a need for more research on the policy as a whole.