The DuPage County Board and DuPage County Health Department cut the ribbon this week on the county’s new Crisis Recovery Center, which will offer around-the-clock support for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
Expected to officially open the first week of September, the center is the first of its kind in Illinois to provide mental health crisis services for children and adults, officials said in a news release. It aims to reduce unnecessary hospital emergency room visits as well as interactions with police that put a strain on public resources, the release said.
Family members or first responders can bring individuals experiencing a crisis to the center, where they will be screened and cared for by trained mental health and substance use professionals.
The center can serve up to 42 people at a time and up to about 15,000 per year. The 160-person staff includes psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, case managers and people who have received mental health treatment.
There is a youth mental health unit for children ages 5 to 17 and adult mental health and substance use stabilization units.
The center, located at 115 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton, cost $25.8 million, with $15.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, $5.5 million from the Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan, $5 million from the health department, and a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the release said.
Operating costs will be funded through direct billing, grant writing, the health department’s operating budget and supplemental private fundraising.
The county’s health department crisis hotline is 630-627-1700.