Jails and mental health

By CHARLES EWING
FOX8 News

A financial dispute between Crossroads Behavioral Health Care and Partnership for a Drug Free North Carolina, has changed the counseling services for thousands of drug and alcohol patients in the Piedmont.

Crossroads receives money from the state to enter into mental health care agreements with groups like Partnership for a Drug Free N.C. The latter claimed that dealing with Crossroads was problematic for them.


"Simply put, working with Crossroads is not tenable, " said Bert Wood, president of Partnership. "We cannot get paid for our services, we are getting paid 50 cents on the dollar."

Crossroads CEO, David Swann, doesn't agree. According to him, the problem is with Partnership.

"We have been working with them for two years to stabilize their system and we have not had the success we need," said Swann.

Officials with Partnership said if the current bill pay method continues, the company would be in the hole $900,000 by the end of June. The treatment service group has decided to pull out of clinics in Mount Airy, Yadkinville and Iredell county on March 28.

Patients currently receiving care will not lose their services. Crossroads will be responsible for finding another company to provide mental health counseling.

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By Eric Klamut
Rocky Mount Telegram

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

A juvenile detention facility being built on Tanner Road in Edgecombe County is set to open in mid-April, according to state officials.

The $6 million, 32-bed youth development center will house juvenile offenders ages 16 and under from the Twin Counties area.

The facility is being constructed near Fountain Correctional Center for Women, on land once occupied by dilapidated corrections buildings.

William Lassiter, director of communications for the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention, said the Edgecombe County facility is one of four youth development centers in the works throughout the state.

The purpose of the new facilities is to keep juvenile offenders in their own communities and work with the children following a therapeutic approach rather than a punitive model.

"It's a smaller facility to keep kids in the community," he said. "These new facilities are being built to house kids of the community."

In previous years, the state would relocate offenders to other facilities in North Carolina. The closest youth development center to Rocky Mount is in Kinston, Lassiter said.

The Tanner Road youth development center will be a secure facility with fencing that will house a variety of offenders ranging from nonviolent to violent, he said.

The completed building will consist of four pods that house eight juveniles each, Lassiter said. The juveniles will each have a single room that is connected to a central living area.

The four pods will have classrooms equipped with computers for the children.

The facility also will feature a cafeteria and gym.

Construction at the site began in January 2007.

Lassiter said the new development center will employ 71 people and have an estimated economic impact of more than $3 million on the surrounding area.

The therapeutic rehabilitation, Lassiter said, seeks to help the juveniles overcome behavioral problems through learning.

This process includes life skills, mental health and educational programs.

"We've moved from the old punitive model," he said. "We're trying to save these kids.

"This is their last stop before (entering) into the adult system. We're focusing on making sure the kids are better when they get out."

When the youth development center opens in April, Lassiter said there will be a need for volunteers from the local and faith-based communities.

"We really want the community to be involved with this," Lassiter said. "Once a child gets out, they are going to need that support and structure. All those kids eventually are coming back to the community."

For more information on volunteer services, contact the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention at 919-733-3388, or visit www.ncdjjdp.org.