A new behavioral health crisis center in Bucks County is set to begin offering emergency treatment services this summer, marking what state officials describe as the first facility of its kind in Pennsylvania.
Leaders from the Pennsylvania departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) and Human Services recently toured the new Bright Path Center alongside local officials and staff. The facility will provide around-the-clock support for people experiencing substance use and mental health crises.
State officials said the center is intended to give residents an alternative to emergency rooms or incarceration when seeking immediate behavioral health care.
“One of the services that people may need when they are in crisis is somewhere to go," Jen Smith, deputy secretary of the Department of Human Services’ Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, said in a statement. "Too often, our neighbors seek help at an emergency department or end up in jail when they are facing a behavioral health crisis and there’s nowhere else for them to turn."
The center is partially funded by DDAP’s portion of opioid settlement dollars that were a result of a multistate investigation of opioid manufacturers and distributors, which led to settlement agreements for Pennsylvania worth billions of dollars.
DDAP awarded the Bucks County Drug & Alcohol Commission $7 million — out of the agency’s share of opioid settlement funds — in grant funding for the project. Additional funding came through federal Community Mental Health Services Block Grants and state county-based mental health funding, which Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has increased by $40 million since taking office.
According to officials, the Bright Path Center will offer 24-hour walk-in assessments for drug and alcohol treatment, telephone crisis intervention, withdrawal management and short-term residential treatment. The center will also feature 23-hour crisis stabilization units designed using the “Living Room Model,” which creates a home-like setting intended to reduce reliance on hospital emergency departments.
Separate treatment areas for children and adults will also be available.
Dave Herold, CEO of Lenape Valley Foundation and the Bright Path Center, said the facility will help expand access to coordinated behavioral health care in Bucks County.
“This center will help ensure Bucks County residents receive compassionate, coordinated behavioral health services in an environment designed to promote dignity, healing, and recovery," Herold said in a statement.
The Bright Path Center is located at 520 N. West Street in Doylestown. More information is available online. To learn more about the Shapiro Administration’s behavioral health efforts, visit pa.gov.
