Ventura County Behavioral Health Emergency Team Reopens Office in Thousand Oaks
The Ventura County Behavioral Health Department mobile crisis team this month reopened its office in Thousand Oaks after being closed for four months because of county budget limitations, the Ventura County Star reports (Ventura County Star, 1/23). Last month, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a plan to reopen the county department's mobile crisis office at the county Sheriff's station in Thousand Oaks. The plan to reopen the office is part of a larger strategy to reconfigure the department's staff, including the reorganization of the crisis-team workers at Ventura County Medical Center into two teams -- one focusing on crises in the community and the other focusing on patient admissions to the inpatient psychiatric unit. The mobile unit will be staffed by psychiatric nurses and social workers (California Healthline, 12/12/03). The team, which responds to as many as 3,000 calls each month, makes field assessments regarding residents' mental capabilities and provides information but does not provide onsite counseling, according to team Supervisor Susan Kelly. The new office is intended to help workers respond to calls faster. The office will be open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Ventura County Star, 1/23).
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