A new mental health facility is open in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and there’s no other place like it in the state.
The Dyer Care Center, located on Piscataway Road in Clinton, is described as an emergency room just for mental health emergencies, with the ability to take drop-offs from police and ambulances alike.
“I learned during my time as a prosecutor that more than 17% of the people that we arrest on any given day and take to our local departments of correction are intoxicated when they arrive, and over a third of all of the people that we arrest on any given day and take to the local Department of Correction are on psychotropic medications when they arrive,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.
Alsobrooks said that means the system is “largely arresting and recycling people who are suffering with mental health and addictions” and then “putting them in places where they could not be healed — until now.”
The Dyer Care Center is designed specifically for people in those situations. In fact, in some cases, police or the sheriff’s department can take someone directly here instead of to a detention facility.
“That’s the idea of this law enforcement drop-off here — that we’re not delegating people to our public safety systems, but we have a dedicated mental health, substance use, suicidal behavioral health response for those with those emergencies,” said David Covington, the president and CEO of RI International, the behavioral health care not-for-profit organization that operates the Dyer Care Center. “That’s the majority of people who are in a crisis.”
While this facility is located in Clinton, it’s seen as a statewide asset in Maryland.
“It offers personalized crisis care, provides patients with a more therapeutic setting than traditional emergency departments and connects them to ongoing services and supports,” said Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott. “It will also … alleviate strain on law enforcement and emergency department providers.”
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