- In Nashville, Tennessee “Mental Health Crisis Unit Opens for Youth.” For Nashville Scene, Hannah Herner reports on the city’s new Children and Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit, which “serves kids ages 4 to 17, with an expected average stay of three to five days. It offers 17 beds and staff specially trained to treat children and families.” The new center fills “a gap in services” for children “experiencing a mental health crisis” that previously saw “the child [sent] home…[sitting] at hospitals or the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center awaiting the next move.”
Ruth vanBergen, senior vice president of emergency psychiatric services at the center, explained to the newspaper that the city has long “struggled with [youth mental health care], we don’t have a lot of options for kids in crisis [until now]… this gives us an in-between service that we can help them work through the current crisis situation, and get them connected to what they need to be successful after that crisis is over and upon discharge” back home.
- In Chicago, “Crisis Stabilization Center” Opens “For Kids Who Need Help.” For WBBM Newsradio, Mike Krauser reports on Cook County’s new Ada S. McKinley Youth Crisis Stabilization Center, a first of its kind facility on Chicago’s South Side, that will provide “a place of refuge for youth in crisis, a safe, supportive place to go when folks feel like the walls are closing in.” The center, staffed with “trained clinicians and mental health professionals,” provides “mental health counseling services… early learning, foster care, academic and career counseling… test prep, tutor and mentor support… [as well as job] training and employment opportunities.” Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President, explained to the radio station that this center is a vital piece of a modern public safety infrastructure: “For far too long, our young people in crisis, particularly on the south and west sides, have been forced into a narrow and unacceptable system of choices: hospitalization or involvement in our criminal justice system. This new Crisis Stabilization unit offers something fundamentally different.”
- In Visalia, California, “Youth Suffering From Mental Health Crises Can Get Focused Care 24 Hours A Day.” For GV Wire, Edward Smith reports on Tulare County’s new Youth Crisis Stabilization Unit, a partnership between local hospital Kaweah Health and the county’s Health and Human Services department, where “children and youth [those 21 years old and younger] can receive acute psychiatric care … crisis evaluation, intervention, stabilization … away from an emergency department setting” or jail, “allowing youth to remain connected to their community and de-escalate situations before they become unmanageable emergencies.” Marc Mertz, chief strategy officer for Kaweah hospitals, explained to the news site that “Mental health is a major issue in Tulare County and children are among the most impacted portions of our population… Far too many of them go untreated. This new facility will ensure that our children can get the mental health support they need where they need it.”
