Luzerne County is seeking proposals to create a mental health crisis and stabilization center in the Hazleton area as plans advance to establish a similar facility in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Crisis centers are safe environments that help deescalate the severity of a person’s distress by providing continuous 24-hour observation and supervision when in-patient services are not required, said county Mental Health/Developmental Services Administrator Tara Fox.
Her agency has access to Managed Care Reinvestment Funds to operate a center in the county’s northern half.
County Council voted in March to earmark $800,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds to set up a second site for southern county residents so they would not have issues accessing crisis center services due to the travel distance, Fox said.
Fox said Monday American Rescue funds will only be used for the chosen provider’s “bricks and mortar” expenses. Actual services will be contracted separately and covered by private insurance, Medicare, managed care and possibly human services block grant funding, she said.
Northern site
Fox is optimistic a provider and site have been secured to establish a crisis center in the Wilkes-Barre area.
Details cannot be released yet because an agreement is still under negotiation, she said. Fox and other county human service officials are “very happy” because the prospective entity is an established provider with many years of experience assisting residents served by her agency, she added.
The nonprofit Northeast Behavioral Health Care Consortium is providing financial assistance and coordinating plans for the Wilkes-Barre area site, Fox said.
Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties teamed up to create the consortium in 2006 to jointly manage their mental health and drug treatment funding for low-income residents on medical assistance. The state agreed some of the savings they amassed through efficiencies could be used for new, in-demand services.
Fox said some of those reinvestment funds will be used for the Wilkes-Barre area crisis center.
The consortium publicly sought proposals from entities to provide and operate the center, but there were no responses, she said. As a result, county officials have been working with existing service providers to sell them on the idea and work through concerns about financing and securing staff in this challenging labor market, she said.
One has stepped up, and a public announcement will be issued when the plans are cemented, she said.
Southern location
Responses for the lower county center are due Sept. 1.
While this bid is only for the site, the request makes it clear bidders must operate services within the building that will be awarded through a separate solicitation.
Bidders are instructed to present costs they would incur to purchase and/or renovate a building for a crisis center.
Those responding must agree to track client data and outcomes, adhere to all National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in programming and ensure current staff and new hires undergo training to better understand trauma.
Addressing need
Fox said her agency has witnessed an increase in those seeking mental health services.
Crisis centers are deemed a best practice by behavioral health experts, she said.
Once the centers are up and operating, the volume of patients seeking urgent mental health care services in emergency rooms is expected to decrease, Fox noted.