Charleston's mental health crisis center aims to divert people from jails, hospitals
Post & CourierDec 04, 2017
For more information or to make a referral, call the crisis center at 843-953-2390.
On a recent November afternoon at the Tri-County Crisis Stabilization Center,
Electing to leave the home-share program and come to the 10-bed crisis facility rendered
“It’s therapeutic,” she said of the facility operated by the
The crisis stabilization center reopened in June following an eight-year hiatus when an earlier iteration of the unit shut down in 2009.
It’s the only such center in the state thanks to
Mental health officials in the Upstate are eyeing similar programs. In
Most patients arrive at the crisis unit because they’re suicidal, said
“The minute they walk in the door, the focus is what got you in here and what we can do to keep you out of jail, the hospital, the ER in the future,” Blalock said. “You’re not going to be sitting around in your bunny slippers all day. It’s gonna be hard.”
The small facility is housed on the second floor of the Charleston Center, a county-run substance abuse prevention and treatment service. Patients check in voluntarily and can be referred by emergency rooms, law enforcement and relatives. They can leave at any time. The average length of stay is 31/2 days, though patients can stay for up to two weeks.
The center’s reopening was part of the Charleston County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s initiative to reduce the jail’s population by 25 percent over three years.
In the first half of 2017, the CJCC found that more than 22 percent of bookings into the
Law enforcement participation in referring people to the crisis stabilization center has gotten off to a slow start, with police accounting for 7 percent of referrals through the end of October. Out of the 254 patients admitted, five were diverted from jail. Most patients would have otherwise gone to emergency rooms or received other hospital treatment.
“Jail (diversion is) a sliver of the picture,” Blalock said. “We definitely expect that to grow as officers get more comfortable with the unit.”
“If we see someone in a mental crisis or any kind of crisis that shouldn’t rise to the level of being criminal, we have this other option,” he said. “For us, it’s a godsend.”
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office delivers patients three meals a day from the jail and also staffs the center with a deputy. But by the end of October, county deputies hadn’t referred any patients to the center. Assistant Sheriff
Lucas said he thinks law enforcement will embrace the center as an alternative to jail in certain situations. Officers will soon also have the option to take intoxicated people to a sobering center, which the Charleston Center plans to open in late December.
“I think there’s opportunities for lives to be changed,” Lucas said.