A new crisis center in Harrisburg is dedicated solely to adults and teens in a behavioral health emergency.

The clinic is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania, and state agencies want other counties to model the system.

Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry Counties worked together to fund the emergency behavioral health crisis walk-in clinic, which is operated by medical group Connections.

“What they will receive here is treatment by behavioral health professionals,” Brittney McCarthy said, the community engagement manager for Connections. the medical group that operates the crisis center. “That compassionate, empathetic care is really important for individuals who are seeking care.”

A person or family can come to the clinic themselves, but the clinic is also listed as a drop off option that law enforcement and EMS might be directed to by 911 dispatchers.

Similar to other emergency services, the clinic provides care regardless of a patients ability to pay or insurance status.

Calming colors, murals of forests and rivers, and ergonomic furniture helps the clinic feel less like a hospital and more like a relaxed space to decompress after a mental crisis. Patients can stay for up to 24 hours, where behavioral health experts respond to their situation, can connect patients with other services, and get them on a path towards recovery.

Having a clinic dedicated to these types of emergencies can reduce burden on other emergency services—who may not have the full training to help these patients in the first place.

“Historically, the only place for someone with a mental health crisis to go is to call 9-1-1, and usually be taken to an emergency department,” said Dr. Val Arkoosh, Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services. “Police are not trained to provide emergency crisis behavioral health services. Neither are our hospital emergency departments."

Those with behavioral health crises have been at risk of being arrested in the past. Or, if taken to emergency rooms, can face longer than normal wait times if they don’t have a medical emergency.

For the Harrisburg area now, anyone in a behavioral health crisis— which can range from a mental health crisis to struggling with substance abuse— can come to the clinic 24/7, no appointment needed, and get help within 90 minutes.

“We want law enforcement officers, emergency response teams, mobile unit[s] to be able to bring us individuals that need behavioral health treatment,” McCarthy said, "and it be seamless and fast so that then those teams could get back out into the community doing what they do best— which is protect our community.”

Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services and Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs say the model is needed in the state… and financially possible when smaller counties work together.

“There's just the capital cost of creating this beautiful space. And then, of course, you have to have that operational budget to keep it running. And so for smaller counties, it's just not possible, even with funding,” Arkoosh said. “So we've been encouraging counties to come together."

The General Assembly directed $5 million in last year’s budget towards these types of clinics. That money combined with federal grants has lead to five projects across the state getting $3 million each.

In our area, McKean county received the grant.