Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center Inc

Crisis intervention services include 24-hour hotlines and walk-in counseling for anyone in need of immediate assistance. The hotlines include a general crisis line and the maryland crisis hotline which is a suicide prevention line that becomes a disaster response line during statewide emergencies. Grassroots also participates in the national life line, a national suicide prevention hotline. Grassroots answers hotlines and provides back-up for other agencies that require a 24-hour response. In fy2024, staff answered 78,528 crisis calls. Walk-in counseling is provided on site, 24-hours. There were 1,473 walk-in contacts in fy2023. Also, 135 individuals received treatment from state opioid response program.

The mobile crisis team consists of two master's level mental health professionals who respond with the police to psychiatric emergencies, family crises, traumatic death situations, and other critical events in the community. Team members have authority to sign a petition for emergency evaluation which allows the police to immediately take an individual to the hospital on an involuntary basis for psychiatric evaluation. The team responds with the police to private residences, workplaces, accident scenes, public locations, and provides assessment, crisis intervention counseling, access to community resources, conflict resolution, facilitation of hospitalization, and specialized assistance in traumatic death situations. In fy2024, the team responded to 1,171 community emergencies.

Other program services: the day resource center located in jessup, maryland, serves the homeless population living outside in howard county. Last year the program served 1,371 individuals. Emergency motel program serves up to ten families per day in area motels, while a case manager works with them to resolve their homeless situation. In fy2024 the program served 160 people. The emergency rental assistance program provides emergency rental and utility assistance to households in howard county that are low- and moderate-income, have been financially impacted by the coronavirus, and are at imminent risk of homelessness. The cold weather shelter provides additional beds during the winter months through a partnership with the faith community. Each participating congregation hosts the shelter for one or two weeks and grassroots provide staffing and management of the program. In fy2024 the program served 73 homeless individuals including 14 families and 21 children. In fy 2024, the code blue shelter served 92 clients and provided 277 bed nights.