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ELKINS -- Officials said this week that a Children's Crisis Center announced for Elkins last year will likely not be completed on schedule.
Last fall, Gov. Jim Justice and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources announced that a new Children's Crisis Center would be built on the property of the West Virginia Children's Home in Elkins.
Since then there have been no further updates on the project, nor have there been any signs of work being done on the property, despite officials originally saying the project would be completed by the end of 2023.
The Inter-Mountain reached out to the DHHR this week for comment. Emily S. Hopta, interim director of communications, asked that any questions about the facility be submitted to the DHHR via email.
The Inter-Mountain asked about the completion date and if the facility was still expected to be done by the end of the year. The DHHR officials responded by saying it was unlikely that the Crisis Center would be complete by the end of 2023.
Officials were also asked when the construction of the facility was to begin and if there was an exact site on the Children's Home property where the Center would be built. The answer to both of those questions was "To be determined."
The Inter-Mountain also asked whether a contractor had been chosen to build the new facility. Officials respond by saying ZMM Architects & Engineers will assist DHHR in the design, construction bid process, and in overseeing the construction.
According to a press release from the DHHR last September, the target population of the new center are children and youth under the age of 21, with the primary target being ages 9 to 21, who are experiencing behavioral health crises that need to be urgently evaluated, stabilized and then referred to the most appropriate level of care, including community- and home-based services. The proposed facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Crisis Center will offer a safe alternative from the use of hospital emergency departments and hotel rooms to address the needs of children who may be experiencing a behavioral health crisis and have been removed from their homes. It will utilize private patient rooms to provide services with stays up to 14 days.
An array of services will be offered at the center, including crisis assessment, stabilization and intervention, nursing assessment and intervention, psychiatric intervention, peer support, observation, ongoing assessment, and disposition and discharge planning.