By Megan Alley
Sun Reporter
Clermont County residents now have 24/7 access to the Child Focus Mobile Crisis Team’s services.
The expanded service hours began on Aug. 31.
Previously, the Mobile Crisis Team was available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Child Focus expanded its service access in the county through a partnership with Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services and the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board, according to Tara Keith, marketing and development officer for Child Focus, and Karen Scherra, executive director of the Clermont County Mental Health & Recovery Board.
The Child Focus Mobile Crisis Team is staffed by Master’s level mental health professionals who are available to provide in-person mental health assessments to Clermont County youth and adults who are experiencing a mental health crisis and who may be at risk of harm to self or others, explained Keith in an email to The Sun.
The hotline and mobile crisis, operated by Child Focus, are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities
Keith noted that due to safety precautions, the mobile crisis responder is often accompanied by law enforcement.
In a phone interview with The Sun, Scherra explained that the expanded hours are paid for by a two-year federal grant awarded to Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services, with support from the CCMHRB.
The grant pays for the establishment of a Certified Community Behavioral Health Center.
“This is a movement that has been happening at the national level; there are some states that are trying to move their entire state to that model, and there are some states that have had a lot of projects and pilots to try that; Ohio was not one of those,” Scherra said.
“There’s been a lot of interest in the state among organizations and providers because this is an approach that is very holistic.”
She added, “It’s kind of the ‘no wrong door’ approach. The person gets everything they need in one place, through one team, and it involves mental health, addiction, crisis, employment, physical health services, medication; everything.”
Scherra said that the grant application process was very competitive, with some 14 to 17 organizations in the state submitting applications, and only two grants awarded.
“We were thrilled that we are on the forefront of this movement, because it’s a different way to think about services, but early research has shown that it is much more beneficial to the client; the outcomes are better, people stay in treatment, you’re a bit more engaged, and services are much more effective because it’s a team approach,” she explained.
One of the conditions of the grant award is that the recipient offer 24/7 mobile crisis response, and thus was born the new, round-the-clock schedule.
Historically, the calls for the service hours between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. were not enough to warrant funding the extra coverage, but Scherra said that she and the rest of the team are excited to expand the hours, particularly now.
“It’s coming at a time, because of the pandemic and everything else going on, that we’re expecting more people to be reaching out, and more things to be happening in communities, so we now will have that coverage, and we can look at it over the next two years and determine whether or not it’s worthwhile to have it available 24/7,” she explained.
Dr. Laura Stith, chief clinical officer at Child Focus, has said that increasing the mobile crisis hours to 24 hours per day, 7 days per week is another way that the Clermont County Mental Health Board is meeting the needs of the community.
“Mental Health crises can happen at any time of the day or night. A mental health crisis is a situation in which an individual experiences extreme emotional or behavioral distress, considers harm to self or others, is disoriented or out of touch with reality, has a compromised ability to function, or is otherwise agitated and unable to be calmed. We want to be on site, assisting law enforcement with calls that are not criminal in nature to ensure Clermont County residents receive timely mental health care,” she said.
Mobile Crisis is funded by the Clermont County Mental Health and Recovery Board and the Clermont County Mental Health Levy which is on the ballot this November. The levy is a renewal and will not increase taxes.
The Mobile Crisis Team can be accessed by calling the 24/7 Clermont County Crisis Hotline at 513-528-SAVE (7283).