GETTING HELP Below are resources for Frisco residents in crisis.
LifePath Systems’ Crisis Hotline is available 24/7 for Collin County residents. Trained health professionals are prepared to assist, regardless of insurance or income. 877-422-5939
Denton County MHMR Center o ers a crisis hotline, mental health treatment and service delivery for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 1-800-762-0157
LifePath Systems Living Room: People who have mental illnesses can nd job services; grocery and housing assistance; and social activities.
SOURCES: LIFEPATH SYSTEMS, DENTON COUNTY MHMR CENTER COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
help the person with voluntary admis- sion into a treatment facility or arrest the person, when justi ed. “All peace o cers have a duty to divert a person from the county jail to an appropriate treatment center when it’s safe,” Skinner said in an email. Texas peace o cers, which include police o cers, deputy sheri s and constables, receive training on crisis intervention, a methodology intended to de-escalate and assist people experi- encing a mental health crisis. Skinner said crisis intervention training consists of learning about commonly encountered mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, personality disorders, mood disorders and developmental disorders; e ec- tive communication skills for a person who may be in crisis; and statistics and debunking myths about mental illness. Collin County has deputy sheri s with additional specialty training who respond to calls involving a person in a mental health crisis on a 24/7 basis, Skinner said. In the event that a person is arrested, o cers and various medical profes- sionals screen people during the book- ing process, Skinner said. Sta screen each person for signs of mental illness or disability, risk of suicide and any special medical needs. In some cases, a person is sent to an emergency room for more specialized assessment or care. The faster the county is able to move a person with mental illness through the criminal justice system, the better, Mahan said. This is one of the reasons why screening is important. “The longer somebody’s in jail, the more unstable their community life becomes,” Mahan said. “For example, people lose their apartments. So when they do get released after 200 or 300 days, they’re now homeless, whereas before they weren’t homeless.” LifePath has had a jail diversion pro- gram for several years that assists peo- ple who have previously been in jail so
they do not return. This year, the orga- nization opened its Living Room as a proactive approach. The Living Room is one of the places law enforcement can bring people who need mental health services, Mahan said. People can also come to the cen- ter, located o of Redbud Boulevard in east McKinney, on their own terms. Sta at the Living Room help people with job placement, food access, hous- ing needs and more. “The thing we obviously don’t want is that people go to jail just to get ser- vices,” Mahan said. A reimagined campus Until the new in rmary is built, Bilyeu said the county will manage like it has for the past 25 years. Bilyeu added that once the expan- sion is complete, it likely will not be sta ed with the expectation of all 450 beds being lled. “When the county has its 3 mil- lion people, that in rmary is already right-sized for that, so we would never expect it to ll up anytime in the near [future],” Bilyeu said. “We’ll open it in stages, more than likely.” In addition to the in rmary, the county can look forward to two other projects from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. A $54.8 million pub- lic health building and parking garage is planned for the southwest portion of the county campus, directly east of the county constable building. The third project is a $12 million medical examiner building, which will be next to the public health building. Both are expected to be completed by 2026. “The bene t for the court making a good, quick, decisive answer [on use of the funds] is it’s helped us keep moving this stu along,” Bilyeu said.
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Doctors on the medical staff practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health Hospital Frisco. © 2022
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FRISCO EDITION • JUNE 2022
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