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When crisis calls: New center to provide short-term care

Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) - 2/2/2015

Feb. 01--BLOOMINGTON -- Life in the midst of a mental health crisis or a withdrawal from drugs is physically and emotionally draining, and without a safe place to recover, the experience also can be dangerous.

The opening of a new crisis stabilization center in Bloomington in early April will help ease that distress for up to 14 people who need short-term care. The Community Crisis Center at Chestnut Health Systems will provide space for clients who need supervised medical detoxification and residential mental health services.

The new facility at Chestnut's Martin Luther Kind Drive complex is part of an ongoing community effort to address deficiencies in local mental health services identified last year in a report from two McLean County Board advisory panels.

The catalyst for the initiative to review mental health issues was a federal report released in 2013 on housing conditions for mentally ill inmates at the McLean County jail. Keeping people with behavioral health conditions in solitary cells in the booking area violated inmates' constitutional rights, said the report by the National Institute of Corrections.

The report also cited serious shortcomings in how people access local mental health services, concluding the jail is an unacceptable place for treatment.

The decision by Chestnut to sponsor a crisis center came down to one concept, said Russell Hagen, chief executive officer: "It was the right thing to do for the community and somebody needed to do it."

The center will be part of a network of first responders who answer crisis calls, including police, the mobile crisis team at the McLean County Center for Human Services and PATH, the local agency that operates the crisis hotline. Local hospitals will also refer clients for services.

Clients can stay two weeks at the crisis center while their medications and condition are stabilized, said Mary Young, director of the new unit.

"During that time, we will be working on an action plan and connecting them with services so they can avoid a return trip," said Young.

Medical detox clients can expect to stay three to seven days. They could then be transferred to Chestnut's substance abuse program, said Young.

Remodeling began several months ago after the adolescent treatment program was relocated to another area. The work to transform the space has been extensive, said Alan Sender, Chestnut's chief operating officer.

"We replaced all the drywall with impact resistant drywall. And because people in a mental health crisis and detox are a greater suicide risk, the closets and bathrooms were redone" to eliminate any potential for harm, said Sender.

Chestnut is covering the $400,000 cost from its reserves, said Sender. A $700,000 state grant awarded to Chestnut in August can be used for treatment, but not to cover renovations, furnishings and other expenses to get the facility up and running.

Chestnut is in the process of hiring 15 staff members for the unit.

County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen views the crisis center as "a big step in meeting an unmet need. We're optimistic as a community that this will give police another option to exercise their best judgment."

A final report on community mental health is expected in the next few months from the advisory panels' efforts, said Sorensen.

Meghan Moser, director of the crisis team at the CHS, said the agency is working with PATH and Chestnut on the admission criteria for clients. Between October and December, CHS answered 854 calls, she said.

The crisis center follows a model used by Chestnut at its Granite City facility in southern Illinois. Among the clients housed on a short-term basis are people released from jail whose stability depends upon ongoing services.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage said a similar need exists in McLean County where about 30 percent of the inmate population arrives with some form of mental illness that requires two-thirds of them to receive psychotropic medication.

"The crisis center gives us another option that ensures people are continuing the medication and care they need to get their lives back on track outside the jail," said Sandage.

Sorensen also said the county is committed to a jail expansion project that could provide 32 beds for mentally ill inmates in a specially-designed unit. Inadequate housing for women in the oldest portion of the jail and a general lack of space for current and future inmate populations also will be addressed with the project, he said.

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(c)2015 The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.)

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