County Mental Health Triage Services
Program Title: Children's Triage Grant
Program Description
The Children's Triage Program consists
of two teams – one in Santa Maria and one in Santa Barbara. Each team has one
full-time licensed mental health clinician and one half-time Parent Partner
(Recovery Assistant). Either team can be quickly deployed to Lompoc Valley
Hospital if there is a youth in crisis in their Emergency Department. The teams
operate Tuesday thru Saturday from 8am to 5pm.
The goal of the program is to prevent
inpatient psychiatric hospitalization of youth by providing intensive mental
health services to youth placed on involuntary holds and awaiting LPS placement
in the hospital emergency departments. The licensed practitioner and Parent
Partner will work closely with the hospital staff, the client and the client's
caregivers to de-escalate the crisis, develop sound safety plans and rescind
the hold. The Children's Triage Program team
members will follow-up to ensure effective community re-integration for children
and youth upon discharge including assistance navigating the mental health
system and providing linkages to services and supports.
For those youth who cannot be
effectively stabilized and safety planned back to the community without LPS
placement, the Children's Triage Program staff will work closely with the LPS
hospitals upon discharge to provide short-term follow-up assistance when the
youth returns home. In addition, as time permits, the Children's Triage Program
staff will assist youth and their families who are experiencing sub-acute
crisis (when children have been identified as at risk for a mental health
crisis, but before they meet the level of acuity necessary for intervention by
crisis staff) before hospitalization is required.
Referrals for the sub-acute cases may come from law enforcement, schools, public health, probation, etc. In particular, proactive outreach to difficult-to-engage populations, like children experiencing homelessness and Mixteco-speaking children, will also be conducted. The aim of these proactive services will be to provide brief, intensive interventions to reduce the risk of mental health crises and hospitalizations and to link children and youth to ongoing behavioral health services.
North County Program Brochure English I Spanish
South County Program Brochure English I Spanish
Children's Crisis Triage Program Access Services offered are community based and primarily provided in the field or in hospital emergency rooms.
North County
Arlene Altobelli, PsyD
805-803-8700
aaltobe@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
Michael Allen
805-319-8175
mwallen@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
Marian Regional Medical Center
1400 E. Church Street
Santa Maria, CA 993454
805-739-3000
West County
Arlene Altobelli, PsyD
805-739-8700
aaltobe@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
Michael Allen
805-319-8175
mwallen@co.santa-barbara.ca.us
Lompoc Valley regional Medical Center
1515 E. Ocean Ave.
Lompoc CA 93436
805-737-3300
South County
Staff not yet hired
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
400 W. Pueblo St.
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
805-682-7111