By Trish Thacker
After months of careful planning and collaboration, we opened our Crisis & Recovery Center – Dakota County this February in partnership with Dakota County Social Services. In these first months of operation, as we support community members experiencing significant mental health challenges, our gratitude to Dakota County has only grown. Together, we share a commitment to dignified, person-centered mental health care—and the result is a beautiful, welcoming space specifically designed to help our neighbors find stability and hope in times of crisis.
Building this facility was not an easy proposition, but Dakota County consistently advocated for the importance of accessible, community-based services for residents experiencing mental health challenges. We know from experience at Guild that community-based and trauma-informed spaces are critical to the crisis and residential setting, where people come to us during their greatest points of need. Clients have told us they feel like they can breathe when they come to the facility and feel moments of peace that they haven’t experienced in a long time.
Since opening, a total of 81 people have received residential services, crisis services or a combination of both. This means 81people experiencing mental health crises and instability benefited directly from this partnership … and it also means many more friends, family and community members benefited indirectly by their loved ones receiving the right kind of care at the right time.
In addition:
- 100% of clients who received residential services and were successfully discharged have returned back into their chosen community connected with appropriate services.
- 98% of clients who received residential services avoided psychiatric hospitalization.
- 100% of clients admitting from the community for crisis services were discharged back into the community.
- 98% of those admitted into crisis services from non-community settings avoided hospitalization or return to residential care.
The human impact of this is immeasurable, and the value of the time and space to heal and stabilize can’t be numbered. But the financial impact is significant as well. One month of inpatient psychiatric care averages about $30,000 in Minnesota. If only 50% of people served at the Crisis and Recovery Center would’ve required hospitalization if not for our services, the cost savings is roughly $1.2 million across the system! This partnership is already helping to reduce costs for Minnesota taxpayers after just seven months in operation.
Our partnership with Dakota County is an active demonstration of the belief that everyone deserves health and well-being, and that creating intentional supportive spaces positively impacts individuals, their family and their community. We can’t wait to see the impact this new facility will have in year two and beyond.
