Transforming Lives - The Newsletter of The Harris Center Summer 2017 - Issue 4
Transforming Lives
Summer 2017
The Crisis Line: Listening, caring, supporting
IDD CRISIS CARE
There when you need
them
TCOOMMI JR.
Teaching skills, changing
lives
NATIONAL NURSES
WEEK
Thanking our nurses
HOUSTON FURNITURE
BANK
Making empty houses
homes
CEO SEARCH UPDATE
The Honorable Jon Keeney
PROSUMERS
Peer recovery in action
MENTAL HEALTH
AWARENESS MONTH
We support mental health
NAMI Walk 2017
Transforming Lives
Summer 2017
The Harris Center
Public Affairs
[email protected]
24-Hour Crisis Line
713-970-7000, press 1
What makes a good listener?
Common responses to this
question include someone
who is attentive, engaged,
non-judgmental, helpful,
knowledgeable and empathetic.
All of these words could be
used to describe the staff who
answer calls to The Harris Center
Crisis Line. Started in 2003
as part of the development of
the Agency’s Comprehensive
Psychiatric Emergency Program
(CPEP) Division, the Crisis
Line is available 24 hours per
day/7 days per week. It serves
anyone in Harris County who is
experiencing a mental health
and/or an intellectual and
developmental disabilities (IDD)
related crisis.
“The Crisis Line is there when you
need it, be it in the middle of the
night or the middle of the day.
Our staff provides a listening ear
that allows people to have open
and honest conversations about
difficult topics, they help people
identify ways to cope and stay
safe, they engage in collaborative
problem solving to find the most
appropriate solutions and next
steps and they provide follow-up
support to ensure that people are
getting the help they need after
the initial crisis,” said Jennifer
Battle, LMSW, the Program
Director for the Crisis Line since
its inception.
The creation of a 24-hour crisis
line is no small feat. By using
national standards and best
practices to inform their work,
Battle and her team were able
to develop a program that
received full accreditation from
the American Association of
Suicidology (AAS) within six
months of starting its operations.
The Crisis Line has received
stellar reviews and continued
successful re-accreditation from
the AAS ever since.
In 2007, the Texas Legislature
passed legislation that required
all local mental health authorities
in the state to provide a 24-hour
crisis line for their service areas.
Given that The Harris Center
already had a fully developed
and accredited crisis line in place
Watch this video to learn more about the Crisis Line:
http://bit.ly/-CrisisLine
that was used as the model in the
development of this legislation,
the Agency began to contract
with other local mental health
authorities in Texas to serve as
their crisis line. Today, The Harris
Center Crisis Line serves in this
capacity for approximately one-
third of all Texans.
“We wanted to be able to assist
our sister centers in providing
excellent care, which is a
common goal for all of us,” said
Janice Cote, LMSW, Assistant
Director of the Crisis Line. Like
Battle, she was part of the original
staff of the program.
In order to ensure that they are
well equipped to deal with the
needs of callers, staff of the Crisis
Line receive vigorous training
that prepares them for the variety
of situations they can expect to
encounter on the Crisis Line. In
addition to the normally required
training for all new employees,
crisis line specialists receive an
additional 240 hours of training
before they are able to work
independently. The Crisis Line
management team then provides
on-going support and oversight
as well as continuing education
opportunities for the staff.
While the staff of the Crisis Line
deal with difficult situations every
day, they also receive calls from
individuals who were previously
helped by the Crisis Line and who
simply want to say thank you.
“People say they felt heard, they
were not judged, and that they
felt that the person they spoke
with really cared. To get an
unsolicited and heartfelt thank
you call is a gift to the entire
team, so we celebrate it as such,”
said Battle.
In that spirit, the management
team showcases each of these
calls, minus any confidential or
identifying information, on a
magnet that is placed on a board
inside the Crisis Line office. Once
the board fills up, the individual
magnets are given to the specific
crisis line specialists who took
the initial calls for display in their
cubicles as a reminder of the
difference they make in people’s
lives.
“Showing empathy and support
and asking probing questions in a
respectful way are skills that we
talk about a lot here. But when a
specific person calls to say what
that support really means to them
in their worst moment, it gives
me the strength to keep going, to
keep caring, to keep offering hope,
even on my own difficult days,”
said Robert McIntyre, a crisis line
specialist since 2013.
Anyone experiencing a mental
health and/or an IDD related
crisis may call The Harris Center
Crisis Line at 713-970-7000,
option 1, 24 hours per day/7 days
per week.