What to do in a Psychiatric Crisis in St. Joseph County, Indiana

Transcription

1 What to do in a Psychiatric Crisis in St. Joseph County, Indiana A psychiatric crisis includes but is not limited to: a person who is suicidal or is having suicidal/homicidal thinking and/or behavior, acute psychotic symptoms, sudden change in mental status, violence, or who is gravely disabled and unable to manage his or her daily living. Below is information for persons in St. Joseph County, Indiana, that should help in dealing effectively with such a crisis. 1. Name and location of your Community Mental Health Center: 2. Serving the following 6 counties: Madison Center and Hospital 403 E. Madison St. South Bend, IN Toll-free Emergency Services hotline: St. Joseph, Elkhart, Allen, Marshall, LaPorte, Porter Please note that the following offices do not offer Emergency Services. Emergency situations should be addressed through the local CMHC: LOCAL Madison Center County CMHC Regional Clinic location Services Offered Allen Park Center Madison Center-Fort Wayne Day treatment, case 422 E. State Blvd. mgmt., outpatient Fort Wayne, IN therapy for children/ adolescents Elkhart Oaklawn Madison Center-Elkhart Outpatient therapy, Parkway Ave. psychiatric svcs, case Elkhart, IN mgmt., child/adolescent day treatment LaPorte Swanson Center Madison Center-LaPorte Outpatient therapy, 900 I Street psychiatric svcs., case LaPorte, IN mgmt., child/adolescent day treatment Madison Ctr.-Michigan City Outpatient therapy, 3714 S. Franklin Street psychiatric svcs., case Michigan City, IN mgmt, child/adolescent & adult day treatment Marshall Bowen Center Madison Center-Plymouth Outpatient therapy 209 E. Jefferson Street psychiatric svcs., case Plymouth, IN mgmt, child/adolescent day treatment Porter Porter-Starke Madison Center-Portage Outpatient therapy, 1575 Adler Circle, Ste psychiatric svcs., case

2 3. The following answers are for St. Joseph County 4. Respondent s name/title, phone, Andrea Popielski, Marketing Director andreap@madison.org Portage, IN mgmt, child/adolescent day treatment 5. Who is the first person a family/caregiver should call in a crisis in this county? The first person you should call in a crisis is Madison Center Emergency Services 24 hour hotline, 403 E. Madison St., South Bend, IN 46617, What does this county advise the involved relatives/friends/neighbors of those in crisis to do for those who ARE COOPERATIVE? If the person is COOPERATIVE, the best thing to do is: Call their doctor or Madison Center Patient Access Center if they do not have a psychiatrist. They could also call their therapist, case manager, NAMI or MHA. 7. What does this county advise involved relatives/friends/neighbors of those in crisis to do for those who ARE NOT COOPERATIVE? If the person is NOT COOPERATIVE, the best thing to do is: Call Madison Center and our emergency services team will explain the options, such as: calling the police to do a wellness check. If the person has a case manager, you can also call them to do a wellness check ; and finally as a last resort, you can do a 72-hour detention if the psychiatrist and judge agree that it is appropriate. 8. What does this county recommend relatives/friends/neighbors of those in crisis to do if the person does not have a mental health care provider? If the person does not have a mental health care provider, take them to Madison Center for an evaluation and they will be seen regardless of ability to pay. 9. What hospital Emergency Room serves this county? The hospital Emergency Rooms that serve St. Joseph County are: Memorial Hospital of South Bend 615 N. Michigan Street South Bend, IN St Joseph Regional Medical Center in South Bend 801 E. LaSalle Ave. South Bend, IN

3 St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka 215 W. Fourth St. Mishawaka, IN All of the above hospitals call Madison Center and we go there to see the patient. 10. How does this county handle a person in a psychiatric crisis who refuses voluntary placement, and his health care provider recommends hospitalization? Describe the process by which petitions for emergency evaluation and/or involuntary hospitalization may occur without a judge? If the person in crisis REFUSES voluntary placement, and his/her health care provider recommends hospitalization, but no judge is available, a police officer who believes the person is in need of immediate psychiatric care, can bring that person to Madison Center or to a hospital ER for a psychiatric assessment. This is informally referred to as a 24 hour hold. If the person meets inpatient criteria, s/ he could either be voluntarily admitted or detention proceedings with a judge may be initiated. Alternatively, if someone has power of attorney, then they have the authority to involuntarily commit the person in crisis. Another exception to this rule applies to the whole state of Indiana If the person is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer s any family member can get them admitted to inpatient care. 11. Describe the process by which petitions for emergency evaluation and/or involuntary hospitalization may occur with a judge. With a judge available, the process by which petitions for emergency evaluation and/or involuntary hospitalization may occur like this: There are two choices: 1. You can obtain the petition from the Mental Health clerk in the St. Joe County court house downstairs (between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Fill out the petition and take it to Madison Center where they will do an assessment and staff it with a psychiatrist. The staffing will be based on collateral information and you can take the petition back to the Mental Health Clerk to file and get the judge s signature. The center must get notification that the judge agreed and signed before they admit the individual. 2. The other option is to come straight to Madison Center where we have 72-hour detention forms and fill out the form here with an emergency admissions counselor who will facilitate the process. 12. How does one file a petition in this county during non-court hours? During non-court hours, an emergency evaluation form/petition may be filed as follows: You may come to Madison Center with the emergency petition and we will fax a copy of the detention to the sheriff/s office and they contact the on-call judge. The sheriff s office will then call Madison Center back with the judge s decision. 13. Do you have a Crisis Intervention Team (C.I.T.) in your area? These are emergency responders who are specially trained to handle mental health cases and to evaluate people in crisis. St. Joseph County does NOT have a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). However, the local NAMI affiliate is working on getting it.

4 14. Who handles the qualified pick-ups for involuntary holds? The people who handle qualified pick-ups for involuntary holds in St Joseph County are: South Bend Police, Mishawaka Police, or the Sheriff s Department. There is not a main contact person or number at any place. We just call and they send whoever is available at that time. 15. Do you do face to face assessments after hours? Face to face assessments are made after hours at the main Madison Center Hospital building, 403 E. Madison St., South Bend, IN 46617, Go through the front door to the admissions desk on the left. Then the Emergency Services counselors in the Emergency Services Office will perform the assessment. 16. How does one get an emergency evaluation form/petition in this county? Emergency evaluation forms/petitions are available from the Mental Health Clerk, Angie, in the St. Joe County Courthouse (101 S. Main St., South Bend, downstairs, Suite 39). Madison Center also has these forms and will facilitate the process if deemed appropriate. If someone is actively a danger, you could call 911 and they will refer you to the nearest police who can do a 24-hour detention at the Police station or they may bring them to Madison Center. 17. Where does one file a completed emergency evaluation form/petition in this county? In which court do you file a petition for emergency evaluation? You can obtain the petition from the Mental Health Clerk, Angie, at in the St. Joe County Courthouse, 101 S. Main St. Suite. 39, downstairs (between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Fill it out and bring it to Madison Center where they will do an assessment staffed with a psychiatrist. The staffing will be based on collateral information and you can take the petition back to the Mental Health Clerk to file. The Center must get notification that the judge agreed and signed before they admit the individual. The other option is to come straight to Madison Center where we have 72-hour detention forms and fill out the form here with an emergency admissions counselor who will facilitate and complete the process. Mental Health Clerk Angie is at 101 S. Main St. Ste. 39, South Bend, IN, The document is called a 72-hour Emergency Petition. The Petition must have a Doctor s signature for a judge to sign it. The judge will sign it and call the police to pick the person up and take them into the hospital. 18. Do you ask the caregiver bringing a patient to your care for any and all mental health history and/or recently observed behavior? Madison Center asks caregivers to bring a list of the person s mental health history and recently observed behavior, as well as a list of medications is always helpful. 19. Is there a Mental Health America in your area? Do they assist with people in crisis? Because of funding issues, Mental Health America is no longer serving St. Joe County; MHA does, though, offer limited services in Elkhart County, at 1010 N. Main St., Elkhart, IN; It is more than likely that, if you haven't had the benefits of the support and education about mental illness that the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) can provide (without cost to you), getting in touch with us would be of immense value to you. If you don't know whether there is a NAMI local affiliate in your area, you can find this out either by contacting NAMI Indiana at , or by visiting the

5 NAMI web site ( and click on State & Local NAMIs. If there is no local affiliate close by, NAMI Indiana is eager to talk to you about helping you to form one. Contact Pam McConey at or at for more information about this possibility. To find out more about the various activities of NAMI Indiana, log on to