Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter To Open Grady's New Mental Health Center

/PRNewswire/ -- Former U.S. and Georgia First Lady Rosalynn Carter is the special guest for today's opening of Grady Health System's new comprehensive outpatient mental health facility, the Auburn Avenue Recovery Center. Known worldwide for her work to improve the quality of life for those suffering from mental illness, Mrs. Carter joins health system officials in celebrating the expansion of mental health services available for adults, adolescents and children in Atlanta and the state.

Grady's Auburn Avenue Recovery Center will centralize outpatient mental health services into one convenient location. The new center expands upon the first-class mental health services already offered by Grady to provide more outpatient services in one location and help encourage clients to use the services offered. Located in the Odd Fellows Building 250 Auburn Avenue, the center features 19 individual and group treatment rooms and space for more than 50 clinical staff.

"Grady's mental health program is among the most comprehensive programs in the country," said Michael Claeys, Executive Director of Behavioral Health for Grady Health System. "We are excited to expand the services we offer for adults, adolescents and children living in Atlanta and Georgia. And we are honored that Rosalynn Carter joined us today as we cut the ribbon for our new home."

As the only 24-hour psychiatric emergency service in Georgia, Grady receives more than 15,000 patient visits a year and its psychiatric emergency service is one of the five busiest in the nation.

Grady's mental health services include:
-- Community outreach: Grady provides psychiatric services to homeless
shelters, supportive living facilities, geriatric living facilities
and other community-based programs serving patients who are unable or
unwilling to come to Grady on a regular basis to receive mental health
care.
-- Child/adolescent care: Grady provides the largest community mental
health program for disadvantaged children in Georgia and specializes
treating serious mental illness, psychological trauma, autism and
youth suicide in children ages 2 to 17. It also serves as a training
hub for more than two-thirds of the child psychiatrists in Georgia
-- Day program services: Grady provides day program services (FOCUS) for
uninsured adults with severe and persistent mental illness. This
program has earned recognition by the American Psychiatric Association
as a national award winning teaching facility.
-- Forensic Psychology: Grady provides the only forensic psychiatry
training program in Georgia and one of the first programs accredited
in the United States. Grady also provides pretrial evaluations for
Fulton County courts as well as treatment and support services in the
Atlanta City Detention Center to help reduce psychiatric emergency
visits.

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Georgia's 24-hour Mental Health Crisis Line among top 50 government innovations

Harvard University has named Georgia’s Crisis and Access Line (GCAL), a 24-hour help line providing mental health crisis intervention and support, one of the top 50 government innovations in the U.S.

The Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases (MHDDAD), which developed GCAL and debuted the service in July 2006, is among 50 finalists for the coveted Innovations in American Government Award given by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

GCAL made the pick out of 600 applicants. Georgia will now compete with other finalists to be among six government entities to receive an award. The competition includes other states, federal agencies, municipalities, school districts, a tribal government and a regional authority.

“GCAL has been a powerful resource to Georgians with mental illness and their families,” said B.J. Walker, commissioner of DHR. “We are thrilled to see the program recognized on a national scale.”

GCAL provides callers with behavioral health crisis intervention and access to behavioral health services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. GCAL has been praised for being a cost-effective way of removing barriers to access for mental health and substance abuse services. Once a caller contacts the service, information specialists identify treatment options and contact mental health providers directly.

“GCAL allows mental health consumers to make more informed choices about treatment options and other important issues,” said Gwendolyn B. Skinner, director of MHDDAD. “It truly is an innovation for our mental health system, and we are honored to be considered among the 50 government innovators in America.”

To be considered for an Innovations in American Government Award, government programs must submit to rigorous review by policy experts and practitioners from around the U.S. Award winners are considered models of good government whose case studies are incorporated into government school curricula worldwide.

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