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The Crisis Triage Center is on track to reopen within a few months if everything goes to plan, according to a presentation from the Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Department.
The center closed on Jan. 31 after the county parted ways with the service provider, RI International. RI, a nonprofit health care provider, asked the county for more money to cover a gap in funding, but the county denied the request.
Advocates say the Crisis Triage Center is an important piece to providing mental health services to people in crisis by allowing them a safe place to receive treatment.
However, police agencies have raised concerns about the legality of doing so, especially regarding people who do not want to go to the center. The funding model proposed by RI relied on police agencies bringing people having a crisis to the facility.
After opening in 2021, the CTC could not reach a sustainable number of clients during its first round of operation, according to reports made to the county.
The county promised to reopen the center after it closed.
Jamie Michael, the director of the Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Department, told the Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 27 that work on that is well underway.
“In recent weeks, there’s been some significant progress,” Michael said.
Michael said Summit Behavioral Health, a Tennessee-based firm that owns PEAK Behavioral Health, has taken over as the center’s new operator.
Michael said Summit has hired most of the necessary staff to reopen, including an executive director. She said Summit had also submitted a request to be licensed by the state Department of Health and was awaiting a response.
“It’s hard to predict if there’s going to be some back and forth,” Michael said referring to the licensing process.
Michael also said she was pleased several of the staff from the last iteration of the Center will be returning when it reopens, and that the Center would rely on the same peer support and “no wrong door” model of behavioral health care.
“We’re going to be back on track to provide the best care,” she said.
The county agreed to pay $1,401,839 to help the initial start-up and $2,868,988 yearly to sustain the Crisis Triage Center in the future.
