Behavioral Health Services North is celebrating the opening of a new residential crisis center in Plattsburgh that will focus on providing mental health crisis support services.
Officials cut the ribbon to officially open a new Residential Crisis Center that allows individuals in crisis to receive short-term recovery and support services.
Vice President of Operations and Clinical Services Liz Cole said planning for the residential homes began in 2019.
“We first started this journey five years ago with the initiative to be able to open up these houses and help transition people out of the hospital or prevent them from going to the hospital. One of the things I think that is really important for the community to understand, over the last seven years or so is that we have been really focusing on creating an opportunity to assess the gaps of services and make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to increase access to care,” says Cole. “That has not been an easy journey at all. But it is something that we have all taken very personally and professionally to make sure that we’re ensuring we’re moving forward. As we do move through the opening of these two programs the role of these programs is to make sure that we’re keeping people out of the hospital or transitioning them to stable living.”
Associate Director of Crisis Services Kourtni Souliere explained that the crisis residence will provide a safe environment and referrals for treatment and recovery.
“It is a program for people who are struggling with mental health crisis who either don’t meet criteria for admission and we’re hoping to divert or have been in a long term high level of care and transitioning out. It is a home-like environment. People can come and go to school, visit with their families, to build community relationships, to connect with services,” explains Souliere. “So far we’ve had the children’s house open since November. We’ve had just under 150 referrals. The average age of admission is 14 and our average length of stay is about 14 days. So while we can go up to the 28 days it really is person-centered to what that individual needs to help them get connected and help them live a whole healthy lifestyle from there.”
Behavioral Health Medical Director Dr. Joanne Astill said working with inpatients at the Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital Medical Center and outpatient services through Behavioral Health Services North has offered her a unique perspective on the community’s mental health needs.
“The acuity of mental health need and the numbers of people with mental health needs has increased over the last several years and having a way to be able to provide services for structure, for a safe place for people that may not quite need the hospital or may be transitioning out of the hospital is a very important service to provide. So I think this is amazing because I think it will fill some gaps that we have had,” Astill believes. “The numbers are out there. Child anxiety is on the increase. It went up 15 percent in the last 10 years in the numbers that I’ve seen. Same with adult mental health, depression, psychosis, drug use disorder and anxiety on the increase. We’re struggling with providing for people and this will be a great service to be able to put in place of some of those gaps.”
Assemblyman D. Billy Jones, a Democrat representing the 115th District, noted that hospitals have told him that projects like this are needed.
“When I started out this job I would visit the hospitals and I would say what is needed for people in crisis that are having issues, substance use, mental health, behavioral health issues. And they said they needed a transition. We needed a place that they could get stabilization, that somebody could fill that void to go on to make sure that they were productive in their lives,” recalled Jones. “So I am very happy to be here today and recognizing BHSN for filling that void and filling that gap. It is needed because oftentimes people feel that they aren’t part of a community when they’re in crisis. And they are. And you help them do that.”
The Residential Crisis Center, located at 17 Wells Street in Plattsburgh, will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
