A program that sends mental health professionals to deal with crisis situations in six Northern Michigan counties will no longer be operating 24/7.
The Family Assessment and Safety Team, or FAST, is a collaborative service between Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority (NLCMH), Child and Family Services of Northwest Michigan (CFS) and local law enforcement.
If a child is having a mental health crisis – meaning they might want to hurt themselves or others – FAST can get a mental health professional on the phone or face-to-face to help de-escalate. Law enforcement can also call on FAST for crisis situations that mental health professionals are better equipped to handle.
Officials say NLCMH decided not to extend the contract with CFS this year.
“We were providing a secondary in the event that a child was in a mental health crisis,” said CFS Executive Director Gina Aranki. “So, our people were on call alongside the NLCMH people. And then would either receive a phone call in order to try to de-escalate a situation or be asked to go where the child and the family were.”
Earlier this year, the FAST team was advertised as 24/7. Now, teams are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Northern Lakes did not say why it cut the FAST team contract but has said it intends to make multiple other cuts this summer to correct what it’s calling a $9 million “overspend.”
Erica Longstreet is the chief clinical officer at NLCMH. She said other services like a 24/7 hotline and the new Grand Traverse Mental Health Crisis and Access Center will fill in the gaps. The crisis center, which opened in January, plans to transition into full 24/7 operation this summer.
“The change is instead of responding as a team of two, we'll do more phone triages and we'll still be going into emergency rooms for screenings,” Longstreet said. “We have the crisis center in Traverse City, where families are more than welcome to bring children or family after hours for services as well.”
It’s unclear how scaling back FAST hours will impact collaboration with law enforcement. Brandon Brinks, the road patrol captain with the Grand Traverse Sheriff's Office told UpNorthLive his deputies can still reach out to the NLCMH 24/7 crisis hotline to see if there's anyone available to assist and refer families to FAST during normal business hours.
He said having non-law enforcement entities on the scene was comforting to families.
According to state law, Intensive Crisis Stabilization Services (ICSS) like FAST are not required to be 24/7. But Aranki said it’s an important step for a community to provide the most efficient and far-reaching mental health care possible.
“For a community to have a robust response system for a mental health crisis, you have to have three things: You have to have a hotline that people can call… You need a place that they can walk into… and you need mobile access too,” Aranki said. “So, mobile access is kind of that third leg of the stool - and we're taking that away.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: IPR News was referred to NLCMH Interim CEO Brian Martinus for more clarification on why cuts to FAST were made but was told he is out of the office on National Guard service this week. This story may be updated with more information.
