Sandhills Center announces selection of provider for child/adolescent Facility-Based Crisis Services

Publication Date: December 02, 2020

Sandhills Center today announced the selection of Alexander Youth Network to provide Facility-Based Crisis services for children and adolescents in a new building, currently under construction, in Guilford County.

Sandhills Center is the Local Management Entity-Managed Care Organization that manages public mental health, intellectual/developmental disabilities and substance use disorder services for the citizens of Anson, Guilford, Harnett, Hoke, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph and Richmond counties.

Facility-Based Crisis services are offered 24 hours a day in facilities with 16 beds or less, and provide an alternative to hospitalization for eligible individuals who present escalated behavior due to mental illness, substance use disorder or intellectual/developmental disabilities. Facility-Based Crisis services are a direct and indirect, intensive short-term, medically-supervised service provided in a physically-secure setting that is available seven days a week and 365 days a year.

The selection of Alexander Youth Network was made after a formal and competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process that began in the spring of 2020. Sandhills Center convened a committee of community stakeholders and Sandhills Center leadership to develop the RFP document. The RFP was widely distributed in June 2020, and bidders’ conferences were held throughout the summer. The RFP committee received proposals from prospective providers who were then evaluated based on stringent criteria outlined in the application process.

Alexander Youth Network was selected to be the provider of services for the new Facility-Based Crisis Center based on their extensive experience working with children and adolescents who have significant behavioral health needs, and due to their established relationships within Guilford County.

“Sandhills Center is proud of our expanded partnership with Alexander Youth Network,” said Victoria Whitt, Sandhills Center’s Chief Executive Officer. “The addition of Facility-Based Crisis services will greatly enhance the existing crisis response service systems in the community, and will divert children and adolescents from hospitalizations and emergency departments, when appropriate.”

Alexander Youth Network was founded in 1888 in Charlotte, NC, as a rescue mission for women and children. In 1946, the agency began serving children with emotional and behavioral challenges. As the organization has grown throughout the years, service delivery enhancements now include Psychiatric Residential Treatment programs, Day Treatment, Therapeutic Foster Care, Intensive In-Home Treatment, Outpatient Therapy, Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Multisystemic Therapy. Last year, Alexander Youth Network merged with Guilford County-based mental health provider Youth Focus to expand its comprehensive behavioral health services to children in 14 counties throughout North Carolina.

In October 2019, Guilford County government and Cone Health broke ground on a Behavioral Health Urgent Care and adult Facility-Based Crisis Center adjacent to Sandhills Center’s new child/adolescent Facility-Based Crisis Center. The partnership between Sandhills Center, Guilford County, Cone Health and now Alexander Youth Network creates an enhanced level of integrated health services for individuals in crisis that addresses both mental and physical healthcare needs. Both facilities are under construction off Third and Maple streets in north Greensboro, near the Guilford County Department of Social Services.

“Sandhills Center appreciates the community collaboration that has factored heavily into the development of these important services and facilities,” Whitt said.