Child mental health crisis center planned for Asheville region

Press release from Vaya Health:

Children and adolescents with mental health or substance use treatment needs will soon be served by a new crisis center opening as early as September 2017 in Asheville.

The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has awarded a $1 million grant to Vaya Health, a public managed care organization serving western North Carolina, to help fund the new center. The 16-bed facility will serve youths ages 6 through 17 who need crisis stabilization services and 24-hour supervision due to a mental health crisis, substance use or withdrawal from drugs or alcohol. It will also provide crisis care to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

The DHHS grant is part of the N.C. Crisis Solutions Initiative, which seeks to improve behavioral heath crisis care and reduce emergency department overcrowding. No similar child crisis center currently exists in western North Carolina.

“An emergency department can be a scary place for a child experiencing a behavioral health crisis,” said Vaya CEO Brian Ingraham. “This facility will be a welcoming place where young people – and their families – can find safety, hope and support. Vaya is pleased to be able to use savings from the effective management of Medicaid funds to reinvest in projects that are so valuable to community members and help to build out our treatment continuum.”

The facility will be named the Caiyalynn Burrell Child Crisis Center, in memory of a 12-year-old Asheville girl who died in 2014 after taking a lethal amount of medication. Her family believes she may have accidentally overdosed in a ‘cry for help’ due to bullying at school and on social media.

Half of all Americans with a mental illness develop symptoms by age 14, and about one out of every five young people experiences a severe mental disorder at some point, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). In 2016, more than 200 children and 900 adolescents experiencing a behavioral health crisis made emergency department visits in the 23 western N.C. counties Vaya serves.

Vaya is working with community partners to establish the child crisis center at a Biltmore Avenue facility that currently houses the Neil Dobbins Center. The Neil Dobbins Center, which serves adults in crisis, will move about 500 yards down the street, into a new addition at C3356 Comprehensive Care Center.

“We’re pleased to work with Vaya and local partners to help young people in western North Carolina receive the services they need to resolve crisis situations and get back to their homes, schools and families,” said Jason Vogler, Ph.D., interim senior director of DHHS’ Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. “The planned center is an example of the innovative, community-driven projects that the N.C. Crisis Solutions Initiative was established to promote.”

The cost of treatment will be covered by Medicaid or North Carolina Health Choice for youths covered under those plans. Additionally, the center will work with private insurers and other funding options to serve children and adolescents in need of treatment. Family Preservation Services of North Carolina (FPS of NC) will operate the program, with guidance from Vaya.

“Family Preservation Services of NC has served western North Carolina for 10 years and is committed to the health of our entire community,” said Cindy Davis-Bryant, state director of FPS of NC. “Our focus on long-term recovery will help young people who seek treatment at this center find stability, prevent future crises and enhance their behavioral health as they grow into adults.”

Additional supporters of the center include Mission Health, local law enforcement agencies, area departments of Social Services and Juvenile Justice Court Services, Buncombe County, Buncombe County Schools, RHA Health Services and local Crisis Emergency Department Stakeholder groups.