A new walk-in crisis center in downtown Binghamton is preparing to open, giving people and families another option when a behavioral-health emergency does not require a hospital emergency room.
The Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier says the supportive crisis stabilization center will operate at 34 West State Street. It is designed to provide voluntary, short-term care around the clock for adults, adolescents, children and families. People will be able to walk in without an appointment and remain for as long as 24 hours when that level of care is appropriate.
Services are expected to include behavioral-health assessments, de-escalation, peer support, safety planning and referrals to ongoing care. The center is intended as a community alternative for people who can be helped safely outside an emergency department. It will not provide inpatient treatment, detoxification, medication-assisted treatment, diagnostic testing or routine medication services.
The center is not yet accepting clients. MHAST says it is completing staffing and other final preparations, and an opening date will be announced later.
New York’s Office of Mental Health says the project is receiving $6 million in state support. That includes $3.8 million for operations over five years, $1 million for capital work and $1.2 million in startup funding. State officials say the Binghamton facility will be the tenth licensed supportive crisis stabilization center in New York.
MHAST already provides peer, housing, youth and recovery services across the Southern Tier. The organization says the new center will expand immediate access while helping connect visitors with longer-term community resources after the immediate crisis has stabilized.
