| story by | Jeff Burkhead |
| photos by | Jeff Burkhead |
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The Treatment & Recovery Center (TRC) of Douglas County provides immediate access to care for those in crisis, providing safety, care coordination and resources to create a path to recovery.
Treatment and Recovery Center
Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center’s crisis services play an important part in public safety, especially for those with behavioral health-care needs.
Services include the Treatment & Recovery Center (TRC) of Douglas County, which is operated by the Bert Nash Center, as well as the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MRT).
The TRC serves adults and youth, and is a safe starting place to evaluate a person’s needs. Located at 1000 W. Second St., the TRC is open 24/7, 365 days a year. No appointment is necessary. For information, visit trcdgks.org.
The TRC provides immediate access to care for people in crisis and connects them to community resources that start them on a unique path toward recovery. It began a phased opening in April 2023, and all units opened on May 25 last year. The TRC served 1,074 community members in nine months of operation last year.
The Urgent Care Unit is the front door entrance of the TRC. At the Urgent Care Unit, community members have immediate access to behavioral health crisis assessment and treatment. This may include crisis observation and stabilization programs.
Ryan Sztorch and Bri Harmon-Moore
Treatment is unique to each person. The TRC offers an Observation unit and a Stabilization unit for adults 18 and older. The main goal for these units is to provide a safe, structured place for individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
The TRC provides individuals the opportunity to receive care coordination, treatment and support. Once a person leaves the TRC, he or she will have access to community resources as well as programs and resources that will help create an improved quality of life.
Bri Harmon-Moore has been on staff at the TRC since before it opened and became the director in September 2023.
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“The TRC is a facility that works to say yes to clients, to provide comprehensive mental health and substance use care to clients, and to, most importantly, wrap services and follow-up around these individuals in innovative ways,” Harmon-Moore explains. “The staff at the TRC are some of the most amazing people with a variety of backgrounds that all share a similar desire to help people in our community.”
Ryan Sztorch is senior director of Crisis Services at the Center. As part of his role, he works closely with the TRC team.
Sztorch also oversees the Center’s Mobile Response Team (MRT). The team provides crisis assessment, intervention and stabilization services to people at the specific location where the behavioral mental health crisis is occurring.
“Expanding our crisis continuum is needed, exciting, and I feel motivated and humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this life-saving work,” he says.
Members of the Bert Nash Center Mobile Response Team
The MRT provides solution-focused and recovery-oriented interventions at the point of a behavioral health crisis in the least restrictive environment. This involves triaging for appropriate levels of care related to a mental health disorder or problematic use of substances, assessing for risks and protective factors, the development of a safety plan and referrals to alternative community resources and services. The MRT collaborates with referrals to identify and implement strategies for managing distress during and immediately after interaction. In 2023, the MRT had 414 referrals and 399 dispatches.
The MRT is part of the Douglas County Crisis continuum, with the aim of engaging people who are in a behavioral health or suicidal crisis in the least restrictive setting. Currently, the MRT includes two program managers; six licensed mental health clinicians, including a co-responder with the Lawrence Police Department; one peer support case manager; and four crisis case managers.
Douglas County residents can call the Douglas County Crisis Line at 785-841-2345 or 988 to receive support from trained counselors at HeadQuarters Kansas, in Lawrence. During that call, the counselor will help determine the nature of the crisis and provide supportive counseling. If an individual’s crisis cannot be resolved over the phone, or he or she may benefit from an in-person intervention, the HeadQuarters counselor will submit a referral for the MRT to go to the person in the community. HeadQuarters and the MRT have also formatted an abbreviated public safety referral process where Fire-Medical, Emergency Medical Services and the Lawrence Police Department are able to make referrals to activate the MRT. Continuing integration and increased communication amongst these systems continues to be identified as priorities in 2024.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, seeking emotional support or feeling suicidal, call or text 988, or call the Douglas County Crisis Line at 785-841-2345.
