Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center

Emergency shelter: the 33-bed family shelter and 18-bed men's shelter provides emergency housing to families and single adults with the goal of helping residents permanently resolve their housing Crisis. Each resident develops a plan which addresses their particular needs and challenges. Maximum length of stay is 6 months and is dependent on the resident's continued progress towards achieving the identified goals. Comprehensive support services include case management, access to mental health and addictions treatment, in-house employment support program, financial literacy and parenting programs, voluntary savings and debt management, health services, assistance applying for social services and social security for eligible persons, and assistance locating permanent housing. Transportation and limited financial support are also available. Staffing includes case managers, residential assistants, drivers and kitchen staff. Volunteers assist with meals, mentoring, recreational activities, tutoring and fundraising. In fy2022, the family shelter served 85 people and provided 9,542 bednights. The men's shelter served 50 men and provided 4,297 bednights. The majority of adults in shelter have a mental health diagnosis, physical disability or serious health issues, or an addiction problem.

The mobile Crisis team consists of two master's level mental health professionals who respond with the police to psychiatric emergencies, family crises, traumatic death situations, and other critical events in the community. Team members have authority to sign a petition for emergency evaluation which allows the police to immediately take an individual to the hospital on an involuntary basis for psychiatric evaluation. The team responds with the police to private residences, workplaces, accident scenes, public locations, and provides assessment, Crisis Intervention counseling, access to community resources, conflict resolution, facilitation of hospitalization, and specialized assistance in traumatic death situations. In fy2022, the team responded to 1,115 emergencies.

Crisis Intervention services include 24-hour hotlines and walk-in counseling for anyone in need of immediate assistance. The hotlines include a general Crisis line and the Maryland Crisis hotline which is a suicide prevention line that becomes a disaster response line during statewide emergencies. Grassroots also participates in the national life line, a national suicide prevention hotline. Grassroots answers hotlines and provides back-up for other agencies that require a 24-hour response. In fy2022, staff answered 58,429 Crisis calls. Walk-in counseling is provided on site, 24-hours. There were 2,324 walk-in contacts in fy2022. Also, 251 individuals received treatment from state opioid response program.

Other program services: the day resource Center located in jessup, Maryland, serves the homeless population living outside in howard county. Last year the program served 837 individuals. Emergency motel program serves up to three families per day in area motels for up to 15 days, while a case manager works with them to resolve their homeless situation. In fy2022 the program served 113 people. The emergency rental assistance program provides emergency rental and utility assistance to households in howard county that are low- and moderate-income, have been financially impacted by the coronavirus, and are at imminent risk of homelessness. The cold weather shelter provides additional beds during the winter months through a partnership with the faith community. Each participating congregation hosts the shelter for one or two weeks and Grassroots provide staffing and management of the program. In fy2022 the program served 60 homeless individuals including 28 families and 23 children. In fy 2022, the code blue shelter served 191 clients and provided 1,039 bed nights.