Rosecrance uses $1.5 million Illinois DCEO grant to create unique crisis intervention center

Rosecrance has received a $1.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to fund a groundbreaking program to meet the needs of area residents who need emergency services and short-term housing in response to psychiatric crises.

The Rosecrance Mulberry Center, located in a renovated and expanded building at 605 Mulberry Street in downtown Rockford, opens Monday, Oct. 6, 2014. The center brings under one roof crisis services that Rosecrance already offers at separate locations in the city.

“The Rosecrance Mulberry Center allows us to serve people in crisis in a comfortable, non-threatening environment and move them to the appropriate level of care very quickly, and the best level of care might be just down the hallway in the same building,” said Rosecrance President/CEO Philip Eaton.

“This program is both clinically sound and fiscally efficient, and it is one of a kind in Illinois.

“We are grateful that the Illinois DCEO agreed to fund the program because they recognized how it will improve the continuum of care for mental health in our community.”

The new center contains the Triage Program for seven clients in psychiatric emergency, the Crisis Residential Program for 12 clients needing short-term care and the new Detoxification Program for four clients with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. The three programs are closely linked and logically offered at the same location.

Triage, located in the east section of the building, is designed to provide immediate evaluation for individuals in psychiatric crisis. Clients might come to the center from area emergency rooms or they might be brought in by family members or law enforcement. The individual is given an evaluation to determine the appropriate level of care, and staff members assist with that transition, which takes place within 23 hours. The area follows the “living room model” for patient comfort. Outcomes range from the client returning home with follow-up care to hospitalization.

An in-between level of short-term care is offered through the Crisis Residential Program, also located at the Rosecrance Mulberry Center. The 12-bed program serves clients who don’t need hospitalization but who need ongoing monitoring  and intensive services after triage. The average length of stay is 3-5 days, but clients may be in the program for up to 14 days.

Four other residential beds will be used for the Detoxification Program for individuals who need that level of medical care along with monitoring for psychiatric crises. That program is new and it will open in early November.

The Rosecrance Mulberry Center reclaimed a downtown building that had been vacant for several years. Beyond renovation of the existing structure, the project called for new construction to expand the building by about one-third. Larson & Darby Group did the architectural work, and Ringland-Johnson Construction was the contractor.

“This project clearly demonstrates our commitment to serve this population,” Eaton said. “We know and believe that people who struggle in our community deserve to have intentionally developed infrastructure to respond to their needs when they’re in crisis. I’m grateful to the state and very proud of our board of directors for their commitment to invest. This is a significant long-term investment in our commitment to providing behavioral health services to people in our community.”