BY Amelia Harper
Staff Writer
Article printed by Rocky Mount Telegram
Published: Friday, October 13, 2017
Integrated Family Services held an open house Thursday for its mobile crisis management office in Rocky Mount.
The office at 135 Woodridge Court will be the hub of the expanded services offered in Nash County by Integrated Family Services as a result of its new partnership with Trillum Health Resources.
“This is a true expansion of services to our county and we welcome it,” said Nash County Manager Zee Lamb. “We have had a good experience so far since Trillium came on board and the few issues we had with service transitions seem to be resolved now.”
Natasha Holley, clinical director with Integrated Family Services, said the organization has been serving Nash County for the past three years, but under the previous affiliation with Eastpointe was only able to offer these crisis services to Medicaid patients. Since Trillium was awarded the contract for Nash County mental health services on July 1, those crisis services are now available to anyone in Nash County regardless of insurance status, Holley said.
Integrated Family Services participates with the North Carolina Crisis Solutions Initiative, which assists in identifying methods to reduce avoidable visits to emergency departments as well as interacting with the criminal justice system, schools, health agencies and other stakeholders for people in behavioral health crises, a statement from the company said.
“Integrated Family Services will offer outpatient therapy to individuals served by mobile crisis management to increase accessibility and prevent delays in treatment. We will help link them to other services and resources within the local communities based upon their needs,” Holley said. “We look forward to now serving the youth, adults and families of Nash County with outpatient therapy in addition to our mobile crisis services.”
At Thursday’s open house, Holley said Integrated Family Services has served 52 Nash County clients through its mobile crisis unit since July 1 and in roughly 70 percent of these cases, was able to help clients avoid a visit to the emergency room.
Mobile crisis management services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provide an immediate evaluation, triage and access to services for mental health, developmental and intellectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders. These services also help people experiencing suicidal thoughts, psychoses, manic episodes, domestic crisis situations and more. Clinicians are trained in prevention and stabilization techniques. Mobile crisis services are available by calling 1-866-437-1821, a press release from the organization stated.
Integrated Family Services is committed to increasing awareness about mental health, offering alternatives to hospitalization and introducing innovative ideas to assist people who want help, the statement said. One of these services is Integrated Family Services Crisis CHAT, a free online emotional support to children and adults that provides critical incident stress management to community stakeholders during a crisis.