In 1999, funding was approved for construction of seven state crisis intervention centers to be operated as satellites to existing and new facilities operated by the Department of Mental Health. The role of these 17-bed centers will be to provide more immediate access to treatment for individuals in crisis including those who are voluntarily seeking services or who have been committed to one of the state hospitals when a bed is not readily available. The crisis centers will provide short-term treatment and stabilization services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The centers will work with the local community mental health centers to provide services for individuals who voluntarily seek emergency services and are likely to be referred for civil commitment. It is believed that many consumers in crisis can be treated at a crisis center and returned to the community without an inpatient admission to a psychiatric hospital.
Construction is underway for the first two centers in Corinth and Newton.
The locations of the other five centers as approved by the Mississippi Board of Mental Health are Batesville, Brookhaven, Cleveland, Grenada and Laurel. Please click on the thumbnail below for a map of crisis intervention center locations by county. The above facilities are operated through the Department of Mental Health s Bureau of Mental Health. Mr. Roger McMurtry currently serves as Chief of the Bureau of Mental Health.