Across the state, Alaska's communities are adopting the Crisis Now model, a tested-model designed to address many of the challenges within our current behavioral health system. The new Aurora Behavioral Health Center houses two components of the Crisis Now model: 23-hour Crisis Stabilization and Short-Term Crisis Residential.
The center will:
- Provide individuals (adolescents and adults) experiencing a crisis with immediate access to trained behavioral health professionals
- Connect guests with wrap-around services during and following discharge
- Partner with law enforcement to ensure community members receive the care they need and do not unnecessarily end up in the criminal justice system
- Provide evidence-based, collaborative care when guests need it most
The Aurora Behavioral Health Center’s Crisis Stabilization Center will offer 24/7 access to mental health and substance use care for adolescents (ages 12+) and adults (18+). The center will operate much like a hospital emergency department that accepts all walk-ins as well as ambulance, fire, and police drop offs. Guests will be supported by a multi-disciplinary team that includes peers, behavioral health clinical associates, clinicians, navigators, and nurses.
Our facility is characterized by the use of recliners, instead of beds, to create an environment conducive to rapid engagement and stabilization and to maximize flexibility in capacity and guest flow. The primary goals of the Center are to provide immediate care to guests experiencing a behavioral health crisis and avoid unnecessary hospitalization for individuals whose crisis may resolve with time and observation. The average length of stay at the center is expected to be 18 hours. Guests in need of further support will be welcomed into the Crisis Residential Center and/or connected with other community supports or hospital services upon discharge.
Services:
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Risk assessment
- Brief medical screening
- Group, individual, and family psychotherapy
- Case management
- Medication management
- Discharge and care coordination planning
- High engagement crisis stabilization services
Essential Functions:
- Prompt assessment
- Stabilization and observation
- Determination of appropriate level of care
- Rapid engagement and connection with team of behavioral health professionals
The Aurora Behavioral Health Center’s Crisis Residential Center will offer services to adolescents (12+) and adults (18+) who are unable to stabilize at the Crisis Stabilization Center. When guests transfer to the short-term crisis residential programs, most often due to issues related to co-morbidity and complex social needs, the transition should be seamless. A guest’s care plan and some care team members will follow them and they will move to the top floor of the same building. The Crisis Residential Center offers beds in individual rooms that connect to a communal space for meals and groups.
Average length of stay is expected to be two to five days. The facility is staffed similarly to 23-hour stabilization, with a mix of professionals and paraprofessionals including 24/7 access to peers, psychiatrists, and Master’s level behavioral health clinicians.
Services:
- Psychiatric evaluation
- Milieu activities (including art and movement)
- Group, individual, and family psychotherapy
- Case management
- Medication management
- Discharge and care coordination planning
- High engagement crisis stabilization services
Essential Functions:
- Abbreviated treatment planning
- Referral and linkage to community resources
- Assessment
- Diagnosis
- Support
- Skills training
A big thank you to our Aurora Behavioral Health Center donors:
- Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
- Bartlett Regional Hospital Foundation
- Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
- Dawson Construction
- First Bank
- Laraine Derr
- Magistro Foundation
- Premera Blue Cross
- Rasmussen Foundation
- State of Alaska Departments of Health & Family and Community Services
- Wayne and Rita Jensen