Board allots $4M to Crisis Center

The Lorain County Board of Commissioners voted Aug. 24 to allocate $4 million for a crisis stabilization center aimed at helping those struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

“The $4 million in funding from Lorain County matches $4 million previously allocated by the Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County for a crisis center,” said county Commissioner Michelle Hung. “The facility would help divert those struggling with addiction and mental health issues from the criminal justice system to get the help they need and ease the burden on law enforcement to deal with these medical issues in the midst of their day-to-day work in ensuring public safety.”

Hung noted the $4 million in funding settlement money from the OneOhio opioid class action suit along with funding from the federal American Rescue Plan are providing the mechanism to the Lorain County commissioners to partner in the financing of the new facility.

Lorain County is set to receive $1.8 million as part of the opioid settlement.

“A crisis stabilization center is not just a gamechanger, it’s a life saver and it’s critical to our local economy,” said Commissioner Matt Lundy. “Instead of flooding our courts and jails, we can dedicate ourselves to putting people

back to work and most importantly back with their families.

“This is one of the most important decisions and investments this board will ever make to change lives in our county.”

The Lorain County facility will offer 32 beds, 16 for those struggling with mental health issues and 16 for those seeking help for addiction. It will be staffed by medical professionals specializing in addiction and mental health.

The commissioners welcomed Lorain County leaders in fighting back against the opioid epidemic, including MHARS Board Executive Director Michael Doud, The Nord Center’s CEO Don Schiffbauer, The LCADA Way’s President/CEO Dan Haight and MHARS Board of Directors President Dan

Urbin.

“When a person experiences an addiction or mental health crisis, it may not always be clear to them, their loved ones and law enforcement on how to handle these specialized medical issues,” Doud said. “This crisis center is a front door to access services in our community.

“It is an investment in modernizing the level of care we are able to provide Lorain County residents struggling with addiction and mental health issues.”

Doud said the next step is to get shovels in the ground and begin construction by the end of the year with a completion date in 2022.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is willing to contribute an additional $750,000 toward construction costs and the MHARS Board has been working with The Nord Center and an architect to place the facility on a parcel of land owned by Nord.

Urbin, who shared with the commissioners the story of his road to recovery added, “My passion has been to help others who seek a life of recovery from their disease. Living a life of sobriety for me is best defined by being considerate and understanding.

“We are pleased with the commissioners’ decision to fund this important and long-awaited facility here in Lorain County. To have a crisis center in Lorain County would indeed be very considerate and, without a doubt, very understanding.”

Schiffbauer said to get to this point is very exciting for the community and The Nord Center and in treating behavioral health issues separately from physical health, outcomes improve drastically.

Describing it as a behavioral health emergency room, he said right clients in crisis will either end up in jail or convention emergency rooms and the crisis stabilization center will provide a provide a targeted

approach.

“The reality is the clients that are coming in and seeking the services, are in need of medication stabilization, quick counseling and then appropriate assessment and triage to the right level of care,” Schiffbauer said. “That’s what you’ll get out of this crisis receiving center because in addition to a nurse practitioner or physician assistant nurses, you’ll have social workers, you’ll have case managers.

“But more importantly, you’ll have peer support specialists, people with lived experience regarding substance use disorder, behavioral health, that can establish a credible relationship with those coming through the door in crisis and help build that relationship to support a successful outcome.”

“A crisis stabilization center is not just a game-changer, it’s a life saver and it’s critical to our local economy.”

— Commissioner Matt Lundy