Weber Human Services unveils comprehensive crisis center
A group activity room at Weber Human Services is shown here Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ogden. The space is part of Safe Haven, an on-site crisis management facility.
Kevin Eastman, left, CEO of Weber Human Services, answers questions during a tour of Safe Haven, a new on-site crisis management facility Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ogden.
Bryan PoVey, therapist and Assisted Outpatient Treatment supervisor for Weber Human Services, talks about the renovations and additions to WHS during a tour Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ogden.
OGDEN — People can now find Safe Haven at Weber Human Services.
A new 2,400 square-foot building now connects the agency’s older, but newly renovated, residential and day treatment facilities situated behind the larger Weber Human Services complex at 237 26th St.
Safe Haven will offer on-site crisis services, short-term transitional care, hospital diversion options, medication management, therapeutic support and an inviting drop-in center as well.
“All our crisis services for adults used to be scattered across our campus. But the whole team is here now,” WHS Executive Director Kevin Eastman said during an open house Friday. “We’ll actually be able to intervene more quickly — that’s the hope here.”
Bryan PoVey supervises Safe Haven’s new five-member Assisted Outpatient Treatment team, which is funded for three years by a $300,000 federal grant.
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Jed Burton, clinical director at Weber Human Services, gives a tour of Safe Haven, their new on-site crisis management facility Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ogden. “This is first class, and that’s what they deserve,” Burton said of the clients they will serve in the new space.
“We target the highest at-risk mental health clients in the county,” PoVey said Friday. “Most of our ‘guys’ are disengaged in the services. They don’t like to come in for a million different reasons. So when they hit a crisis, they run to the hospital.”
But inpatient hospital stays for mental health emergencies are expensive, costing Weber Human Services over $3 million per year in Medicaid dollars. Those dollars do get reimbursed, but Eastman questions if costly hospital stays are the best way to deliver vital care to those who can’t afford to pay for it themselves.
According to the Treatment Advocacy Center based in Arlington, Virginia, assisted outpatient treatment is court-ordered for individuals with severe mental illness who meet specific criteria — such as repeated hospitalizations, arrests or medication noncompliance.
PoVey’s team spends a portion of each day knocking on the doors of individuals who generally are not eager to interact.
“We reach out and try to engage with them, then get them involved in the process so they’ll use this building — not only in times of crisis but also for therapy, so they’ll have a better quality of life and at the same time save taxpayer dollars,” PoVey said.
Those initial contacts could mean a week of daily door-knocking. “Usually after that first week they’ll open up the door just to see why we keep bothering them every single day,” PoVey said.
Then comes trust-building, with the aim of getting enough buy-in that people begin utilizing Weber’s mental health services.
“We’ll see them four to five times a week and sometimes more if they need it until they get comfortable with us,” PoVey said. “But we’ll do whatever it takes to get these guys involved.”
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Weber Human Services staff answer questions during a tour of Safe Haven, an on-site crisis management facility Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Ogden.
PoVey’s team of two clinicians, two master level therapists and one peer support specialist currently work with 47 clients.
The new $700,000 infill building — in the works for about two years — will offer crisis intervention for adults ages 18 and up.
“The demographics here require that we use our money for the Medicaid program, so we have very little left over for those who don’t qualify for Medicaid — and there are still people that fall into that gap. This is one service that we can provide regardless of whether they’re unfunded or have insurance or Medicaid,” Eastman said. “If it’s a crisis, we want to intervene and help make referrals to any place in the community.”
Kimball Kelsey, Safe Haven’s daytime crisis supervisor, believes the single site will help streamline delivery of services during those difficult times.
“When people are in crisis, they don’t connect well with resources. It’s hard for them to take those steps and cross those bridges,” Kelsey said. “So our goal here is to bring all those resources into one location so clients can get the services they need.”
Safe Haven will also have a crisis response team working directly with Ogden police officers on dispatched calls involving a mental health client.
“We’ll have a worker dispatched to the scene to provide guidance to the officer to make sure that the community member gets the resources they need,” Kelsey said. “So the police will have more options than just jail or the hospital.”
Safe Haven also offers a 23-hour diversion center where Medicaid-eligible individuals in crisis can find temporary help and support.
“Case managers and therapists work with them to figure out the next step, whether it’s admitting them to the Crisis Transition Unit or going back out into the community,” said Camille Williams, a licensed clinical supervisor over that 16-bed residential facility.
The Crisis Transition Unit houses most clients for three to five days, but some stay a bit longer, Williams said.
It also offers an alternative to costly inpatient hospital services that run about $1,250 per day, Eastman said.
“Hospitals incur costs when an individual comes in without the ability to pay. It might cost less for them to come here and go through our services,” Eastman said. “It’s a partnership of trying to minimize our expenses and maximize our resources to work more effectively in the community.”
To contact the 24-hour crisis center, call 801-625-3700. Walk-in crisis services are also available between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays at 237 26th Street.
Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck.
