Overseers of a sales tax fund that supports programs for St. Louis County children will set aside $2 million next year for an outpatient mental health crisis program unique to the region.
Still in early planning, the program would provide St. Louis County youths with a place to go for immediate help in a crisis associated with depression, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other mental health issues, said Kate Tansey, executive director of the St. Louis County Children's Service Fund.
As it is, those youths — mostly age 19 and under — are landing in emergency rooms, where they are typically turned away after an initial visit.
Yet, said Tansey, most of these youths and their families need immediate counseling before they return home.
The center, which could take youths on an hourly or daily basis, would seek to help stabilize children to prevent suicide, runaways, substance abuse and family violence.
"Right now we just don't have anything to do with kids who definitely need services, but they don't need to be hospitalized," said Tansey, noting the kids aren't a danger to themselves or others but may be in manic states that families can't manage.
The anticipated $2 million project is made possible through a one-fourth-cent sales tax that St. Louis County voters approved in 2008. The tax is generating $35 million a year for programs through the county's Children's Service Fund. But deciding how to divvy up that money continues to evolve.
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