By Tara Plaugher and George Goddard
The Washington County Behavioral Health Board is pleased to have received a grant award in the amount of $113,620 made available through Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) to provide initial start-up funding for Mobile Response and Stabilization Services (MRSS) for youth in Washington County. The Washington County Behavioral Health Board plans to contract with Life and Purpose Behavioral Health to develop this new service. The start-up funds will be used in the development and planning phase to hire and train individuals to respond to crisis calls for youth 20 years of age and younger in Washington County.
The MRSS model is an insurance and Medicaid billable service allowing the program to become self-sustaining. MRSS is a short-term service intended to divert crisis situations from the local Emergency Department to offer more personalized in-home services from a licensed counselor including safety assessment and planning, de-escalation techniques, coping skills, and continued support to youth and family members from certified family peer support specialists that have lived experience.
Once the youth crisis intervention service is running at full capacity, MRSS will be accessible to families that are experiencing a crisis at any hour of the day, any day of the year.
The goal of an MRSS call-out is to respond to a family experiencing a youth crisis situation (emotional, behavioral, or traumatic circumstances) that affects themselves or others within their family, school, or community by offering immediate and continued stabilization services for the first 72 hours ultimately creating a stronger connection for families with multi-system needs with appropriate support services.
“We are thrilled to support Mobile Response Stabilization Services and to fill a gap in the youth crisis continuum of care in Washington County” Assistant Director, George Goddard, Washington County Behavioral Health Board.
To learn more about MRSS locally, contact Life & Purpose Behavioral Health at 740-376-0930.
Plaugher and Goddard are from the Washington County Behavioral Health Board
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