By Lily Groves, Staff Writer
DuPage County’s new Crisis Recovery Center opened its doors in Wheaton, Ill. on Sept. 2, providing immediate care for all county residents, including local colleges students experiencing mental health or substance use issues.
Open 24/7 for both walk-in appointments and crisis line calls, the clinic hosts a full team of support specialists, crisis counselors, psychiatrists and other licensed professionals who were hired by the DuPage County Health Department to address widespread problems. While the Health Department has previously provided some mental health care services, often in collaboration with existing community resources, the new center’s model intentionally differs from past offerings.
According to Lori Carnahan, deputy director of behavioral health at the DuPage County Health Department, the idea for the center’s service model originated in a 2017 county-facilitated workshop. After evaluating the county’s previous mental health care offerings and visiting other central receiving centers over multiple years, the department decided to focus on making care accessible for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis, or emotional distress that disrupts their usual functioning.
“What we really found was that we wanted to make it less institutional and have a place that is voluntary where people can go,” Carnahan stated. “We really can support anybody within the population regardless of what their circumstances are.”
In order to avoid the overly institutional feel that is associated with many mental health institutions, Carnahan said the new clinic was “designed for the clients to be able to feel welcomed, supported and to not feel like they’re in a jail or a hospital setting.” Carnahan said, in the end “It really is that non-clinical setting where they can still get that clinical level of care.”
Wheaton College counseling staff are currently determining exactly what that clinical level of care is, and whether to endorse this new CRC as an option for students. Currently, the college’s protocol for students who require mental health evaluations is to transport them either to Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville or to Central DuPage Hospital if physical care is also required.
Karen Hurula, director of the Wheaton College Counseling Center, shared that the college hopes to gain a better picture of what services are provided by the new clinic and what happens when patients are redirected after crises are initially addressed. Ongoing care and short-term responses are housed under one roof at both of the hospitals currently endorsed by the college, while the Crisis Recovery Center only keeps patients for less than 24 hours.
“We really want to protect our students. If they are told they need to go to the hospital, but no transportation is provided, then what?” said Hurula. “We don’t want a student having to navigate all of that alone without a staff member.”
Although Wheaton College has yet to make an official endorsement of the Crisis Recovery Center, anyone five years of age or older may receive care from the center. The center provides both a youth unit and substance use stabilization services, which are separate from the adult mental health treatment services.
Geri Kerger, chief executive officer and president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness DuPage, a nonprofit providing mental health care and education, shared that many residents have opposed substance use facilities in the past, citing the “‘Not in My Backyard’ efforts of various communities in DuPage.” Kerger said “Sometimes, people think that because of DuPage’s wealth, there are no problems. Of course, that is not true.” Within NAMI’s work alongside the Crisis Recovery Center in directing patients to the proper resource, the number of mental health resources in the county are expanding.
“Mental health and substance use are two of the major health issues in our county. Even though DuPage has many resources, our population is nearly 1 million, so there is a great need,” Kerger said.
Regardless of the views and needs of DuPage residents, Wheaton College students face institutional expectations regarding their interactions with substances. The Wheaton College Community Covenant, signed by all Wheaton students and faculty, requires undergraduate students to “refrain from the consumption of alcohol or the use of tobacco in all settings.” The college does not address substance use treatment options for students, which may make it diffiult to ask for help.
Hurula recognizes, however, that “as students do sometimes end up struggling or overindulging,” this new Crisis Recovery Center “would also be somewhere where they could safely get sober and make some decisions before returning to campus. It’s nice to have something like that locally where a student may feel more comfortable with a non-Wheaton College resource.”
Editor’s Note: The DuPage Crisis Recovery Center, located at 115 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton, IL, is open 24/7 for both walk-ins and calls to their support line at (630) 627-1700.
