Joinder plans behavioral health crisis center in county
LOCK HAVEN — The Lycoming-Clinton Joinder Board has been awarded a minimum $3 million grant to establish a regional emergency behavioral health crisis walk-in center to be located in Clinton County. The announcement of the grant was made by Keith Wagner, executive director, at the board’s monthly meeting.
The Joinder had learned of the state grant to establish a crisis walk-in indoor stabilization facility in rural communities last fall, Wagner explained. The grant award was a minimum of $3 million.
“The Joinder did apply for that with the idea of locating a facility in Clinton County and making it a regional option for not just Lycoming-Clinton, but for the surrounding counties,” he said.
The Joinder received word just before Christmas that they had received the award, although the official letter informing them of the exact dollar amount has not been received.
“What they were planning was up to five grants of $3 million yet they did not award five. Any unawarded funding would be redistributed amongst the counties that did get awarded. So it’s a minimum of three, and could be more than that,” he said.
“It’s a 36-month grant to plan and establish a crisis walk-in or stabilization facility as an alternative to someone experiencing a mental health crisis going to the physical health emergency room, and then getting stuck there with no beds available, and they actually don’t get to receive treatment. They stay in the emergency room for a long period of time and then are released,” Wagner explained.
He noted that there are still a lot of “moving parts” that will have to happen and that the project is in the early planning stages. First is receiving the official letter from the state.
A potential location for the facility in Clinton County has been contacted. The Joinder has reached out to officials in surrounding counties to see if there is an interest in participating.
“There will be a lot of work involved so we’ll be talking about it a lot over the coming year, as we get underway,” he added.