MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. -- The State Employees' Credit Union Youth Crisis Center is now open in Mecklenburg County, offering services and treatments for youth living with mental illness or intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The center is a 16-bed, 24-hour inpatient facility for children and adolescents ages 6 to 17. The center is the first of its kind in the state and will be a place where young patients can be assessed outside of a standard emergency department.
“Places like this do give parents hope to keep their children alive and have hope for the future,” said Gwen Bartley.
Bartley's 17-year-old son has battled with mental illness since age six. She said she first noticed something wasn’t right when her child began trying to hurt himself and others.
“He did report starting to have hallucinations and hearing voices, so I knew there was more than a child having a typical tantrum,” she says.
For years, Bartley said she and her son were on a revolving door in and out of the hospital. She said the hospital would handle the crisis then release them. However, her son never really got the help he needed.
Officials with the new SECU Youth Crisis Center said patients are able to stay at the center for up to a week while they receive mental health services.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, officials said the facility has already begun treating 11 patients and hopes to serve more than 600 children a year.
In addition to treating youth, officials said family members will also be given what they call a family check-up. That's where parents and caregivers are given resources and support to better enable them to care for a child with mental illness.
Statistics show there are roughly 26,000 children and adolescents in Mecklenburg County who are living with mental illness.
The center is located at 1810 Back Creek Road in Charlotte and will be run by Monarch, a not-for-profit organization that provides support statewide to thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, mental illness and substance use disorders.
The center was made possible through state funding, donations and a $750,000 donation by the State Employee’s Credit Union Foundation.
The center said they accept walk-ins and will never turn anyone away based on their ability to pay.