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Open Lines

 

There are calls that must be answered.

Keeping the lines open has been a top priority as Crisis & Counseling Centers (C&C) moved from its 32 Winthrop location in Augusta across the Kennebec River to 10 Caldwell Road. The organization staffs the 24-hour crisis line serving both Kennebec and Somerset counties – a service that is vital to central Maine.

As an integral first responder, often partnering with local law enforcement, crisis staff routinely respond to people of all ages who are despairing and suicidal ; some who have struggled with mental illness for years, some whose situation is intensified by alcohol or drug dependence, and some who, due to life circumstances, find themselves in need or services and support they have never needed before.

“The first priority for the agency in the move was to minimize any impact on the clients … The crisis line had to move with no calls dropped and uninterrupted service for safety reasons, said Abigail Lourie, C&C’s Director of Crisis Services. “We started the planning process a long time ago.”

C&C Operations Director Sandy Rudman agreed, saying that the organization started to plan how it would keep the crisis lines even before it found its new building. “We always knew it was our number one priority,” she said.

“The lines are always open,” said C&C CEO Lynn Duby. “We knew there would be challenges with the move, but the crisis calls would be answered no matter what.” The move date not only needed to meet the needs of the organization, it was also dependent on the phone company’s ability to transfer telephones, Duby said.

The change did not go entirely without a few minor glitches, although callers did not experience any service delays. The crisis line remained up, during the first day of the move, and the phones were ringing in both buildings’ triage centers. “We had to keep people in the old building until 5 p.m. in the afternoon when we had planned on only keeping them until 1 p.m.,” Rudman said.

“I’m thrilled with the work staff did to prepare for the switch,” Duby said. “We take our responsibilities to the residents of Maine very seriously. We know how precious every second of a crisis call can be and do whatever is possible to make sure each one is answered.”

The organization also took the opportunity to upgrade its phone system to ensure that it could meet the needs of clients. “This allowed us to keep the lines up at both buildings until we were certain they were ringing in the new location,” Rudman said, adding, “We depend on our phones and we desperately need to know that people are able to connect with us, day or night, seven days a week.”

“The phone company was able to sort out the lines within five hours,” said Lourie.
The old phone system was being phased out by Panasonic and moving to a new system will lower overall costs. “We’ll only have half the phone cabling and the system will greatly reduce our telecommunications’ bill,” Rudman explained. Evidently Panasonic is no longer supporting the old system, which Rudman said has caused a lot of problems with ordering replacement parts.

Furthermore, there was only one person in the state qualified to troubleshoot and work on the old system. “Our business relies heavily on phones so we can’t afford to have a glitch that can’t be fixed quickly,” Rudman said. The organization will continue to have a landline to ensure service, even in the event of an emergency. “The copper lines give us backup when we have power outages so that we can still have lines into the agency and to crisis, should we lose power.”

The move positions C&C to continue, and to enhance, the outstanding work it does in the community for its clients. “It’s going to be a big improvement,” Rudman said.
Crisis & Counseling Centers is a private, nonprofit social service agency licensed by the State of Maine as a mental health and substance abuse treatment facility. With clinical programs operating out of eight locations, the organization is the sole provider of 24-hour mobile crisis response and stabilization in Kennebec and Somerset counties (responding to more than 1,000 calls each month and conducting between 400 and 500 face to face assessments in the community, each month).

C&C also provides outpatient medication management, substance abuse and mental health treatment to more than 1,000 individuals each year; integrated medical and behavioral healthcare in two large county jails; and family support services statewide through the G.E.A.R. Parent Network.

The mission of Crisis & Counseling Centers is to develop and deliver effective solutions to the diverse behavioral health needs of the community in a professional and respectful manner. If you or someone you know is experiencing a crisis, please call the Voice & TTY Maine Crisis Line at 1-888-568-1112, or, from a cell phone in Kennebec or Somerset counties, please call C&C’s local crisis number 207-621-2552, to ensure your call is properly routed. For information, visit www.crisisandcounseling.org.