Fort Smith crisis center treats 25 patients in opening month

FORT SMITH — Activity in the state’s first crisis stabilization unit has been slow, but that was expected for the unit’s first month, the director of the unit says.

Rusti Holwick, CEO of the Western Arkansas Counseling and Guidance Center, said last week that the Five West Crisis Stabilization Unit on the guidance center’s campus had taken in 25 people with psychiatric problems since it opened Feb. 28.

Holwick said during a meeting of the Sebastian County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee last week that she has learned from operators of similar facilities elsewhere that it can take about six months for a stabilization unit to reach its capacity. The slow buildup of “guests,” as Holwick called them, gives the unit’s staff members time to iron out wrinkles in the system.

“I think we’re actually doing pretty good even though it’s a little slow,” Holwick said. “Right now, it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

The 16-bed unit is one of four in a pilot program around the state to test whether people with mental illnesses can receive treatment when in crisis rather than end up in jail when their illnesses put themselves and the public in danger.

Other crisis stabilization units are planned for Pulaski, Craighead and Washington counties with the state allocating $1.6 million for each.

Holwick said that of the 25 people taken into the unit, nine were delivered by the Sebastian County sheriff’s office, five were from the Fort Smith Police Department and one each were from the Van Buren Police Department, Crawford County sheriff’s office, and the Franklin County and Logan County sheriff’s offices.

“Nine people not in my jail, I think that’s a step in the right direction,” said Maj. John Miller, head of operations at the Sebastian County sheriff’s office.

Holwick said one person was taken to the unit from Mercy Hospital and that an unspecified number were taken from the Riverview Hope Campus, some of whom were delivered by law enforcement officers.

Answering questions from the committee, Holwick said there were four people in the unit as of March 27. The average stay for a person was three or four days. People leaving the unit are introduced to follow-up programs for ongoing help with their illnesses.

Some people taken to the unit were sent on to more restricted levels of care after going through triage at the unit, Holwick said. Others were sent to Valley Behavioral Health System in nearby Barling and or to another facility for detoxification.

Resistance by people taken to the unit was low, she said, contrary to what some predicted.

“People walked in,” she said. “It’s comfortable, and they want to stay. We’ve had really good success there so far.”

As the crisis unit ramps up its operation, the training of officers to appropriately intervene in cases of mentally ill people in crisis continues.

As more officers are trained locally, those who complete the training can begin holding classes to teach other officers. New officers at the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy also are going through crisis intervention training by the Department of Human Services.

“The quicker we can get them all trained, the more fully utilized this stabilization unit will be,” said David Hudson, county judge of Sebastian County.

Officials in Sebastian County and around the state have worked for years on a way to keep mentally ill people from crowding jails or going to emergency rooms when they suffer psychotic episodes that can make them violent and a danger to themselves and others.

Officials said there is nowhere to take such people, so they end up in emergency rooms and jails. Officials have called county jails the largest psychiatric facilities in the state.