Even with only four beds available, San Luis Obispo County’s crisis stabilization unit is not being used enough.
That was the verdict of a youth gap analysis report released on Dec. 4, led by Transitions-Mental Health Association (TMHA) in partnership with the county’s Behavioral Health Department.
Though the crisis stabilization unit can stand to receive more use, it ignores one crucial demographic eager to access mental health care.
“There is no youth crisis stabilization unit in the county, and the psychiatric inpatient units do not have appropriate bed space for youth,” the report read. “The [unit] does not accept youth patients.”
The Johnson Avenue crisis stabilization unit is a round-the-clock voluntary residential care facility that provides individual and family counseling, medication monitoring, life skills enhancement, and follow-up service plans—all for adults.
SLO County Health Agency Director Nicholas Drews informed the Board of Supervisors at its Nov. 28 meeting that the youth gap analysis report recommends finding an alternate use for the crisis stabilization unit, but the health agency faces financial hurdles.
“A lot of the challenges are answers we do not currently have because we don’t have a thorough understanding of the marketplace,” Drews said.
He discussed a report recommendation to redesign the unit as an urgent care center, which he called a “24/7 alternative to a hospital.”
According to the report, a revamped space would have the ability to accept youth who need mental health care on a 5585 hold. The 5585 hold allows county-designated professionals to take a minor into custody for up to 72 hours for assessment, evaluation, crisis intervention, and/or psychiatric treatment.
Currently, the county’s Mental Health Evaluation Team doesn’t refer young clients to the crisis stabilization unit. Youth walk-ins to the unit are also referred elsewhere. According to the report, staff who place 5585 holds on the youth who need them are reluctant to release them from custody because of a lack of care options.
“It has been reported that as a precaution, children may sometimes remain on holds when they might be stabilized in community settings,” the report said.
In a 2021-22 SLO County civil grand jury report, the grand jury stated that the lack of services for county youth under a 5585 hold results in them being transported to other counties to receive help.
The county Behavioral Health Department has yet to plan an urgent care center, as its cost is unknown. Drews told the Board of Supervisors that the department wants to know more before making a decision.
“We’d like to look through an RFI [request for information] to see if there are other alternatives to the crisis stabilization unit,” he said. “We believe that if [the unit] was modified, it could serve the current purpose that it has but also fulfill the need that we’ve heard tremendously from the community that we need an alternative to emergency rooms for those needing mental health emergency care.”
With 5th District Supervisor Debbie Arnold absent, supervisors voted 4-0 to approve the request for information.
“This is one of the most important things we’ve discussed in a long time because we have a crisis, and I think everyone knows it,” 1st District Supervisor John Peschong said. “I would be supportive of … going out to look for more funding.” Δ
This article appears in Dec 7-17, 2023.