MEDIA, P.A. (KYW Newsradio) — A few years ago, officials in Delaware County did an assessment of what it took for families to access mental and behavioral health services in the county and Dr. Monica Taylor said for many it wasn’t easy.
“Depending on how you tried to access the system you could run into different barriers,” she said
Courts and community coordinator Shannon Fitzpatrick Thomas said one of those barriers is not knowing what number to call.
“There’s such a need for increased access to behavioral heath, which means mental health and substance abuse services and families sometimes don’t know where to go,” said Fitzpatrick Thomas
To make things easier, the county recently unveiled its ConnectED program, which gives families one line to call to get any mental or behavioral health service they may need.
“We go through an assessment of what kind of services are they looking for, whether that’s a social worker who’s referring someone, or a family who reaches out directly and we directly connect them to those services,” said Taylor.
The line also operates 24 hours a day and seven days a week, and the overall goal is to help more kids succeed inside and outside of the classroom.
“And the hope is to decrease any penetration of youth into the criminal justice system,” said Fitzpatrick Thomas.
The number to reach the peer support team is 1-855-MVP-2410.
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