Georgia and Fulton County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Behavioral Health Crisis Center at the Oak Hill Child, Family and Adolescent Center, 2805 Metropolitan Parkway SW, Atlanta.
To be completed by early next year, the facility will be the first such center in Fulton County to receive public funding.
In recent years, Fulton County has seen increases in deaths from suicide and drug use.
The Georgia 988 crisis hotline reports that its highest number of calls has come from Fulton County residents.
In 2021, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners allocated $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the center’s construction.
The Georgia General Assembly allocated funds in the state’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget for the new center.
For 24 hours, seven days a week, the center will include 24 beds and 16 observation chairs.
Expected to serve at least 5,000 people each year, the center will incorporate a “living room” model in which patients with lower needs will receive services through other programs, allowing crisis beds to be used by patients with the greatest need.
For more information about the new center, call the Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities at 404-612-6520 or visit tinyurl.com/3t94f8cj.
