New crisis center celebrates new Norfolk location

It’s frustrating to see how these so-called “mental health facilities” operate. They aren’t truly about care — they’re about Medicaid dollars. They prey on the homeless, many of whom have already been bounced around between similar pop-up facilities. In reality, people are only kept for a short stay — sometimes just 24 hours, rarely more than a few days.

The process is always the same: a quick check-in with a disinterested LPC or QMHP, followed by a stack of paperwork to bill Medicaid. Once the billing boxes are checked, patients are discharged back onto the street or pushed off to another “partner” facility in the same cycle of exploitation.

If you don’t have Medicaid, you won’t get in. And even with Medicaid, if you don’t have the “right” provider, you’re often turned away. This isn’t mental health treatment — it’s a revolving door designed to drain Medicaid funding, not to actually help people in crisis.