For many years staff and community stakeholders have identified the need for a crisis stabilization unit to serve children and youth in an emotional crisis. Currently young people are brought to the County’s Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES) unit when they are experiencing an emotional crisis. PES accepts every individual in need of care, however, it does not currently have the capacity to separate children and youth from adult patients at its entrance, waiting room, triage, or treatment area. The result is that young patients are often in the presence of adults experiencing acute psychiatric needs. This exposure would be difficult for any young person but is particularly traumatic for emotionally vulnerable children and youth experiencing a mental health crisis. Furthermore, children and adolescents have developmentally distinct needs that require tailored approaches to stabilization, discharge planning, and transition to appropriate longer-term services. By seeking funding from CHFFA, the Behavioral Health Services Division (BHSD) hopes to create a free-standing crisis stabilization unit to better support the needs of the community and the long-term therapeutic outcomes of the children and youth in need of therapeutic crisis support services.   
  
If awarded, BHSD will return to the Board for final acceptance and approval of the CHFFA award and program design.

If this application is not approved, County will not be able to apply for funds to renovate a facility to provide crisis stabilization services to youth and children experiencing and emotional crisis.  

This recommendation supports the following children’s outcome: Children and Youth Healthy and Preparing for Productive Adulthood.