8/2/23
Today, our guest speaker was Adam Forker, Executive Director of the DuPage County Health Department.
The CRC is to be located at 115 County Farm Road with construction work beginning this year with potential opening in summer 2025.
What is a CRC, and what is the need for an CRC?
The CRC is a single point of entry for individuals experiencing a mental health (MH) or substance use (SU) crisis. The CRC provides a safe, caring, and medically appropriate alternative to an emergency room or jail. Services to be provided:
- 24/7 crisis intervention, assessment, and evaluation'
- Referral and warm hand off to the most appropriate level of care,
- Linkage to health insurance, food, job placement, and other community resources,
- Withdrawal management and linkage to SU treatment
The need:
- Law enforcement officers, EMS, and family members can drop off individuals experiencing a MH/SU crisis.
- Destigmatize individuals with MH and/or SU disorders.
- Provides a safe alternative to law enforcement and individuals experiencing a MH/SU crisis.
- Appropriately detox or transport individuals who are experiencing acute withdrawal from SU disorder to an ER.
- Reduce the inappropriate utilization of hospital emergency departments (ED) by diverting individuals with MH and/or SU disorders. From January 2017-March 2022 there was an average of:
- 570 drug related ED visits per quarter at DuPage County hospitals
- 1,471 alcohol related ED visits per quarter at DuPage County hospitals
- 6,238 mental health ED visits per quarter at DuPage hospitals
- 1,705 suicide related visits per quarter at DuPage County hospitals
There is an abundance of information available on the DuPage County Health Department website: https://www.dupagehealth.org/