Idaho’s third crisis center opens

The third state-funded behavioral health crisis center opened its doors in south-central Idaho this week.

The Times-News reports that lawmakers approved allocating state dollars to the Twin Falls center during this year’s legislative session.

The centers are open 24 hours a day and provide temporary services to people having mental health or substance abuse crises. The longest a patient can stay during one visit is 23 hours and 59 minutes. Officials say the centers provide somewhere to go other than jail or a hospital. All services are provided for free and no one is turned away.

Eastern Idaho got a state-funded center in 2014 in Idaho Falls and Coeur d’Alene opened a crisis center for northern Idaho in 2015

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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com