Southeast Idaho Behavioral Crisis Center set to open in April
The Southeast Idaho Behavioral Crisis Center is set to open its doors in Pocatello next month. A project that’s been in the works for several years will finally address some of Bannock County’s largest issues.
“We are facing a crisis, that takes the form of suicide rate and also drug addiction,” Bannock County coroner Ely Taysom explained.
These issues really hit home in Bannock County, where the suicide rate is the worst in the state.
Taysom believes mental health is a huge factor in both the suicide rate and drug use, based on the evidence he’s seen.
“Undertreated or untreated mental health issues combined with mind-altering substances, even alcohol, not even recreational drugs, can create a very volatile situation and I see that in almost every single case of suicide,” he explained.
Starting in April, the crisis in Pocatello will be working to try to break these trends and help those in need.
“The main services we’re going to provide is mental health and substance abuse emergency services,” Director Matt Hardin explained. “So our goal is to take anybody that’s in crisis and work on stabilization.”
By working with these individuals, the group hopes to prevent the admittance or incarcerations of those in crisis, hoping they can be a safety net to catch them before then.
The group is working with the team that set up the crisis center in Idaho Falls to learn from their four years of practice.
“We have a lot of experience going into this thing and we have a lot of history and some of their experiences to bounce off of and so, we feel like we’re coming in with a pretty strong game plan,” Hardin said.
The center will share a parking lot with Pocatello City Hall and offer twenty beds, along with food and a place to relax for these individuals.
The center is tentatively set to open on April 15 and Hardin said they plan to take people in immediately.
“Meeting with the hospitals and the jails, everybody said we need somebody now,” He said. “And so we’re hoping that April 15th, our opening date, were hoping that as soon as we open we can be that community resource and have that impact on the community.”
Taysom is hopeful and confident that the center will bring about a decline in Bannock County’s rates, where eight suicides have already been recorded this year.
“I can tell you that specific situations that I have been involved in, regarding the investigation of a suicide, could have been avoided with the crisis center and the services that they can provide, it absolutely would have made a difference and I think it absolutely will make a difference in the future,” he said.
The center has two upcoming community meetings: One on March 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Phoenix room at Southeastern Idaho Public Health and the other on April 23 also at 6:30 p.m., at Pocatello City Hall.
