The new facility is the first of its kind in California.
SAN DIEGO — San Diego County has officially broken ground on a new children’s crisis residential care facility.
The county is renovating a 10,000 square foot building located near the Pinsky Children’s Center in Kearny Mesa for youth recovering from crisis.
The new facility is the first of its kind facility in the state of California, with the goal of creating a safe and therapeutic alternative to hospitalization for children who are experiencing any sort of crisis.
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“This is a step in the right direction for more compassionate care, more care that is more meaningful in people’s lives and is changing everything here in San Diego County,” Joel Anderson, supervisor for San Diego County District 2, said.
Anderson was joined by county behavioral health leaders today to break ground on the project.
Crews already demoed the inside of this building to create 16 beds, a communal space, dining and more for the children who will come to the facility for care. It is intended to be a pathway to transition children out of inpatient care and reduce the pressure on local emergency departments. It’s all about stabilization, treatment, and recovery with compassion at the center.
Services at the Children’s Crisis residential care facility will include de-escalation and tailored support for crisis intervention, mental health assessments and treatment, medication assistance and what the county calls a warm handoff to ongoing behavioral health services.
The county also declared today as Children’s Crisis Residential Care Facility Day, thanking the Behavioral Health department for all the work and progress it’s been making.
The plan is to have this facility up and running by the fall of 2027.