Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expanding access to behavioral health care through a series of grants that will increase access to specialized crisis services for residents experiencing behavioral health emergencies, he announced Friday.
The awards are part of a $1.4 billion investment in Right Help, Right Now, a comprehensive plan to address behavioral health care, and will support the development of crisis receiving centers (CRC) and crisis stabilization units (CSU).
“Every Virginian deserves to know that in a moment of crisis, help is close at hand in Virginia,” Youngkin said in a press release. “Through Right Help, Right Now, we are expanding access to specialized crisis care so that people can be connected quickly to the services they need. By investing in more crisis receiving centers and stabilization units, we are strengthening communities, easing the strain on emergency rooms and law enforcement, and ensuring that help is available when and where it is needed most.”
As part of Right Help, Right Now, CRCs and CSUs, together with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and mobile crisis teams, work to provide safe, community-based services that offer an alternative to hospital emergency departments and jails, easing pressure on both law enforcement and hospitals.
Secretary of Health and Human Resources Janet V. Kelly said in a statement that each new CRU and CSU will allow the state to provide more effective and compassionate access.
“These facilities meet people in their communities, reduce unnecessary hospital visits, and connect Virginians to the right level of care from the very start,” Kelly said. “This is how we turn meaningful investment into a life-changing impact.”
Included in the latest round of projects is the Alleghany Highlands Community Services Board, which will receive $1 million to support the development of new CRUs and CSUs for both adults and children.
Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board will receive $6.5 million to expand community-based crisis services, including a new adult CRC and the development of a separate youth site that will offer acute substance use detox and residential services.
Rappahannock Area Community Services Board will receive $5.5 million, which will build on additional funding announced in 2024. The funding will be used to purchase commercial property and expand the scope of the original project.
The existing Sunshine Lady House adult CSU in Fredericksburg will be relocated and renovated, and a youth CRC and CSU will be added to expand services to the area.
Hallie Pence, Executive Director of Right Help, Right Now, said the service is about meeting the needs of people when it’s needed.
“These new facilities will make it possible for more Virginians to get immediate help close to home, preventing crises from escalating and connecting individuals and families to ongoing support and hope,” Pence said.
