By Cacilia Jensen
The field of behavioral health is ever evolving to meet the needs of individuals all over the world. Research provided at the national level helps provide funding and resources to populations, communities and individual people who need the most support, and this involves crisis services.
Crisis receiving centers have been popping up throughout the nation, and more recently in Utah, as an additional resource for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. Most crisis receiving centers in Utah have been developed along the Wasatch Front in urban communities, until this year. Four Corners Community Behavioral Health is excited to bring to the communities of Carbon and Emery counties the first rural crisis receiving center in Utah.
Four Corners Community Behavioral Health currently provides crisis services throughout Carbon, Emery and Grand counties around the clock, which includes the current Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) that can be deployed to a crisis situation both day and night. This team is able to meet individuals wherever they are within those communities as crises can occur anytime, anywhere.
MCOT teams are able to meet with individuals in office, in their homes and in other settings, such as the hospital and local jails, if needed. Four Corners Community Behavioral Health’s crisis therapists, case managers and/or peer support specialists complete roughly 1,000 or more crises per year. These crises include the utilization of other community partners that are sometimes low on resources in our rural communities, such as local law enforcement and medical staff. Crisis receiving centers are proving to be instrumental in helping to alleviate the amount of dollars and resources used during a crisis situation, supporting existing programs, such as MCOT, and most importantly, supporting individuals in need.
So, what is a crisis receiving center? Programs can look different in urban and rural settings, but both are critical in providing helpful crisis intervention services to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis situation. Four Corners Community Behavioral Health’s Crisis Receiving Center (coming soon) is designed with six beds for individuals to stay up to 24 hours to help stabilize the crisis, get connected to services, meet with medical personnel to evaluate the need for medical stabilization for mental health concerns, and create the best plan for them to be successful in their lives once the crisis resolves.
A behavioral health crisis can be brought on by a number of different reasons, from feelings of extreme overwhelm in one’s life, which can lead to suicidal thoughts, loss of a job, substance use concerns and many other variables in between. The crisis receiving center will be a physical place where individuals will be able to go to get the mental health support needed.
Four Corners Community Behavioral Health is committed to providing evidence-based, effective mental health treatment and we are looking forward to serving our community members in this capacity in the near future. For more information regarding the crisis receiving center in Carbon and Emery counties, please contact Cacilia Jensen at (435) 381-2432.
Current crisis resources include the National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or members of the community can contact Four Corners Community Behavioral Health at (435) 637-2358 to speak with a local crisis worker. More information will be provided as the development of the program progresses. Thank you for your support!