Title
COMCARE CRISIS STABILIZATION UNIT EXPANSION.
Presented by: Marilyn Cook, LSCSW, Executive Director, COMCARE.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve budget authority to reallocate existing positions within COMCARE’s budget in order to staff the Crisis Stabilization Unit for a client capacity expansion.
Body
Background: COMCARE currently operates a Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) to address the needs of clients experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis. The CSU provides a safe, structured environment for the provision of crisis intervention and stabilization services 24 hours a day. The current four-bed facility is located at 1720 East Morris and includes a living area, dining area, kitchen, restroom, three bedrooms and laundry facilities. The program had 463 admissions in 2012.
In an effort to better meet the needs of citizens in Sedgwick County, COMCARE is requesting to expand the CSU from the current four-bed capacity to a twelve-bed capacity. Due to current economic and societal pressures, our community is experiencing a growth in the number of individuals suffering from mental health related crises. By expanding the program’s capacity, we will be better able to divert clients from more expensive treatment options, such as inpatient care. This will help Sedgwick County to more adequately and efficiently meet the growing mental health needs of this community.
Although the primary benefit of expanded treatment capacity is to better meet individual client need, this expansion is projected to also have positive impacts for our law-enforcement partners. As a result of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training provided for local law enforcement agencies, COMCARE has noticed a 68% increase in client referrals to the Crisis and SCOAP programs from law enforcement providers. It is anticipated that the proposed additional capacity at the CSU will allow COMCARE to stabilize a greater number of individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis in the community and avoid ...
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