Rural clinics announce new Nevada program

The Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health, Rural Clinics announced a new program for adults in rural Nevada entitled, Immediate Mental Health CARE Team.

The program offers a toll-free number (877-283-2437), answered by Crisis Support Services of Nevada (CSSN), for adults in rural Nevada to call and receive immediate therapeutic support and necessary mental health care from wherever they are located, the division reported.

“Once the individual is determined to be safe by CSSN staff, the caller is connected to a CARE Team clinician,” the state said in its news release Nov. 19. “This is typically done by a video link to a computer or smartphone. The clinician will work with the individual to assess, stabilize and support the person’s well-being. The CARE Team provides follow up and ensures there is a smooth transition to needed supports and services in the individual’s home community.”

The new program was funded during the 2019 Nevada legislative session through Fund for a Healthy Nevada. Fund for a Healthy Nevada is money that is allocated from tobacco settlement monies to help with services including addressing the health and well-being of all Nevadans.

The CARE Team Program was modeled after the successful Children’s Mobile Crisis Response Team, which has been running in rural Nevada for three years, the state said.

The goal of both services is to provide rural Nevadans immediate mental health help in order to reduce emergency department visits and psychiatric hospitalizations, when appropriate, by providing support, interventions, stabilization and case management.

In addition, these programs reduce unnecessary costs to individuals, reduce trauma and remove barriers that can happen when individuals do not know where to get help, help facilitate hospitalization, and when needed, connect individuals with peer support programs and facilitate referrals to mental health services in a person’s home community.

For more information about this new program, contact Michelle Sandoval, 775-738-8021.

For more information about the Division of Public and Behavioral Health, go to http://dpbh.nv.gov