In August 2023, Chester County, Pennsylvania awarded Woods/Legacy Treatment Services a contract to provide a new mobile crisis response program for behavioral health emergency. The contract, valued at $960,099, has a three-year initial term followed by additional one-year renewal options. Woods/Legacy Treatment Services will manage countywide behavioral health mobile crisis response teams.
Woods Services and Legacy through their affiliation in the Woods System of Care, partnered to respond to the RFP and bring these services to Chester County.
The county released the request for proposals (RFP 2212-02) on December 16, 2022, with proposals due by February 28, 2023. The county has not provided further information about response to the RFP.
Under this contract, the behavioral health mobile crisis teams (Teams) will be dispatched by licensed clinical professionals based in Chester County’s new Behavioral Health Crisis Contact Center (the Center). The Center will provide 24/7/365 real-time access to a live crisis counselor every moment of every day via phone, text, or live chat for anyone in the county experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis. The Center will be integrated with the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
The Teams will be composed of one clinical professional with at least a Bachelor’s degree in the behavioral health field and one Certified Peer Specialist/Certified Recovery Specialist (CPS/CRS). If a CPS/CRS is not available, the second team member can be another Master’s or Bachelor’s-level behavioral health clinical professional. The Teams anticipate serving approximately 3,600 consumers annually.
The Teams managed by Woods/Legacy Treatment Services will work collaboratively with other Chester County systems of care and service providers, as follows:
- Criminal justice, inclusive of Adult and Juvenile Probation, Corrections, Courts and Pretrial Services, District Attorney’s Office, Law Enforcement, and the Public Defender’s Office.
- Community and faith-based organizations, inclusive of community centers, houses of worship, elected officials’ offices, local non-profit organizations, and senior centers.
- Education, inclusive of colleges and universities, Intermediate Unit, and PreK-12 schools.
- Health, inclusive of community behavioral health, crisis stabilization services, drug and alcohol services, first responders, hospitals, inpatient psychiatric services, nursing homes, centers for independent living, outpatient services, pediatricians, and primary care offices.
- Human services, inclusive of Aging; Children, Youth, and Families; Housing and Homeless Services; Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities; Early Intervention; Veterans Affairs; Child Welfare, and Foster Care.
The RFP noted that between 2020-2022, Chester County Hospital’s emergency department (ED) experienced a 71% increase in behavioral health cases. However, the county had limited beds for crisis stabilization and for inpatient treatment. The county relies on law enforcement, first responders, and hospital EDs to respond to people experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis. The county encompasses 75 municipalities, and has a population of 534,413.
Woods Services and Legacy Treatment Services are part of the Woods System of Care that is a population health management organization that, through its network of providers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, provides life cycle care to meet the lifelong needs of children and adults with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A), acquired brain injuries, and /or mental health challenges who may also have complex medical and genetic conditions. Each year, more than 30,000 children and adults are served by the System.
For more information, contact:
- Department of Mental Health/Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, County of Chester, 313 West Market Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380; 610-344-6000; Website: https://www.chesco.org/615/Mental-HealthIntellectual-Dev-Disabiliti#ccf46269c4-b34b-4b6d-9229-7df010ec25e8
- Woods System of Care/Woods Services, Post Office Box 36, Langhorne, Pennsylvania 19047-0036; 215-750-4000; Email: communications@woods.org; Website: https://www.woods.org/