Groundbreaking on crisis recovery center marks next step in DuPage County’s addressing public mental health

DuPage County broke ground Monday on its 33,000-square-foot Crisis Recovery Center [CRC], which will provide immediate treatment for people experiencing serious mental health or drug addiction situations.

Proposed by the DuPage County Health Department in June 2023, the CRC received financial support from the DuPage County Board to the tune of $25.8 million.

The center will be paid for with money from three sources: $12.55 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, $5.5 million from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and $7.75 million from DuPage County. It will be located on the existing health department campus near the intersection of Manchester and County Farm roads in Wheaton.

“This crisis recovery center will be the first of its kind in the country because it will treat children and that is an area that has been in desperate shortage for many many years,” DuPage County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said in a press briefing Friday. “Parents don’t know what to do, where to go, who to call, and this facility will be that somewhere to call, someone to respond and now we have somewhere to go.”

The facility will be broken down into three sections, one for adult mental health, one for youth mental health, and one for adults needing a safe place to sober/manage withdrawal, Deputy Director of Behavioral Health Services Lori Carnahan said.

“The goal would be to reduce unnecessary emergency room visits, unnecessary calls to 911, so anybody that’s really struggling knows that this is that primary location to go,” Carnahan said.

Collaborating with law enforcement and emergency services will be necessary as patients brought to the CRC may not require traditional medical care, but it’s expected that most patients will either come to the facility on their own or will be brought by family, friends or neighbors, Health Department Executive Director Adam Forker said in a June interview with the Pioneer Press.

The CRC will maintain approximately 35 spaces for individual patients on a 24/7 basis, but anticipate most patients leaving the facility the same day, health department officials said.

The Health department estimates the facility will require $5.5 million to $6 million annually to operate, which includes staffing, security, supplies and general upkeep.

Preliminary plans for the facility were first presented to the public in March 2023, but the concept had been a priority for the health department as far back as 2016, Forker said.

Construction of the CRC is expected to wrap up sometime next Summer.

“The groundbreaking of the Crisis Recovery Center is a significant milestone in DuPage County Health Department and DuPage County’s ongoing and unwavering commitment to create the ideal behavioral health crisis system to effectively support DuPage County,” DuPage CountyBoard of Health President Sam Tornatore, said in a news release Monday. “The CRC’s physical design and trauma-informed, recovery-focused approach to care will be a welcoming and supportive environment for individuals to start their journey to wellness and recovery.”

DuPage County residents experiencing a crisis now can contact the 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or the health department crisis hotline by calling 630-627-1700.

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