Local agencies have been working for two years to rebuild a local crisis intervention system.

That effort is moving forward as abatement work is set to begin within the next few weeks on the second floor of the Indian Family Health Clinic at 1220 Central Ave. for a crisis center.

The idea is to create an open space with recliners, showers and staff who can help those who self-present in mental health crisis or are brought to the center by local first responders.

The concept is simple: those in mental health crisis often aren’t best served in the emergency room, hospital or jail.

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But, for years, those have largely been the only options when first responders are called to a situation involving someone in crisis.

In 2024, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office received a $1 million grant toward the construction of a crisis center, which is being created by renovating the previously unused second floor of IFHC.

IFHC received brownfields funding through the Great Falls Development Alliance and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the hazardous material abatement and remediation of the second floor.

CCSO also received a $400,000 grant for starting up a crisis intervention program, which pays for the crisis diversion coordinator, a vehicle, and associated costs.

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CCSO hired Kami Stone as the coordinator and she’s been organizing training and working with partner agencies to restart a mobile response team and establish the crisis center.

On Oct. 29, representatives from CCSO, IFHC, Many Rivers Whole Health and the Great Falls Police Department put sledgehammers through a wall to signal the start of the abatement work.

During the event, Julie Prigmore, Many Rivers director, said the center was the missing part of the local crisis system for a long time.

Capt. Brian Black of GFPD said the center will fill a “gap that we had within our community.”

Rachel Arthur, IFHC director, told The Electric that the clinic donated the second floor of its building for use as a crisis center.

“We believe this is what the community needs,” she said.

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The building was constructed in 1952 and Benefis Health System donated it to IFHC in 2017.

Arthur said the building has sturdy bones but was built with hazardous materials such as asbestos, lead and black mold. The second floor sat vacant for about 10 years, so there were water issues that required sinks and toilets to be removed.

Two years ago, she went to GFDA seeking Brownfields funding, which IFHC received, but it’s been a lengthy process, including three rounds of environmental studies with the EPA.

Now, Arthur said the actual abatement work should start in the next few weeks.

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They’re working with Nelson Architects for the remodel and expect to release a request for proposals in December for the remodel construction.

Arthur said that once the center is ready to open, it will be staffed by Many Rivers to provide initial services, like a licensed professional for those in crisis to talk to.

To start, the center will be open for 23 hours and 59 minutes a day since the 24-hour mark requires a fire suppression system under building and fire codes. The upper floor doesn’t currently have such a system and they’re costly to install.

Artur and Stone said the center will open first as a receiving center, working with community partners to connect those who come through the door with the appropriate services.

Arthur said it could connect those walking in with IFHC services offered on the first floor, such as primary care or urgent care walk-in services.

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Despite the name, Arthur said IFHC is open to all for services.

The big picture, Arthur said for the center, is “creating a community of safety and having resources where people can go and receive support.”

She said CCSO Undersheriff Scott Van Dyken wrote the grants “that helped pave the way for where we are now.”

Billings has a crisis center, she said, and it’s been beneficial to the community and is supported by local partners in a variety of ways, making it a sustainable program.

“We’re hoping the Great Falls community will gather around us and offer in-kind contributions, whatever that looks like,” Arthur said.

Stone, the crisis diversion coordinator, said multiple organizations are working together to establish the mobile response team and crisis center.

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To start, Many Rivers is providing a licensed professional to pair with an EMT from Great Falls Emergency Services for the mobile response team the agencies hope to launch in the next month or so.

It’s planned as a dedicated team available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Stone said, hopefully addressing the long-term local struggle with professionals who weren’t always available because they were doing double duty, on call, or due to a lack of funding.

Previously, the mobile response and crisis intervention teams weren’t structured in a sustainable way, but through this new model and with the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic designation for Many Rivers, they’re able to bill through Medicaid based on contacts and have more access to sustainable funding, Stone said.

According to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, the CCBHC providers will participate in the four-year federal program to establish clinics that serve any Montanan seeking care for mental health or substance use challenges, regardless of their age, place of residence, or ability to pay. The federal CCBHC funding is designed to allow the state to rely less on short-term grants to provide care.

Participating CCBHCs must meet national standards, which include providing 24/7 crisis response and care services, timely access to outpatient services to reduce wait times, a comprehensive scope of service, and evidence-based practices tailored directly to local community needs, including for children and youth, according to DPHHS.

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During the four-year demonstration, which began Oct. 1, DPHHS will monitor clinics for compliance, compile annual cost and quality reports, and collaborate with national evaluation teams from CMS and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to track the program’s impact.

Prigmore, Many Rivers director, told The Electric that CCBHCs must provide nine core services, including crisis response.

She said they’re building a crisis receiving facility team to meet the requirements and the service is primarily reimbursed by Medicaid and sustainability of the service is volume-based.

Prigmore said they’ll work with community partners to staff and maintain a continuum of care based on the crisis now model.

Stone said said that the second phase of the crisis center, which requires more funding, is stabilization, which will have individual rooms where those in crisis could stay for up to two weeks.