F7 - Building an Ideal Behavioral Health Crisis System

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM MDT

Location: 702

Unrestricted Education Sponsor

Discover how DuPage County, Illinois, designed and launched a 24/7 Crisis Recovery Center (CRC) as the cornerstone of a full crisis continuum. The CRC is the first in Illinois to serve both youth and adults while addressing mental health and substance use crises in one accessible, no-wrong-door setting. This session will share innovative funding, partnerships, and workforce strategies that make the model sustainable and replicable. Attendees will gain practical insights and inspiration to reimagine crisis care in their own communities.

Learning Objectives:

Identify key components of the DuPage County Crisis Recovery Center model that integrate mental health, substance use, and youth crisis services into a single continuum of care.
Analyze the braided funding strategies and cross-sector partnerships that sustain the CRC and explore how these approaches can be adapted for other communities.
Formulate actionable strategies to apply SAMHSA’s “Someone to Call, Someone to Respond, A Safe Place for Help” framework within participants’ own systems to strengthen crisis response.

Disclosure(s):

Lori Carnahan, LCPC: No financial relationships to disclose

Kathy Carey, LCPC: No financial relationships to disclose

Breakout Presenter(s)

Lori Carnahan, LCPC

Deputy Executive Director
DuPage County Health Department
Wheaton, Illinois

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Slides
Kathy Carey, LCPC

Director of Crisis Operations
DuPage County Health Department
Wheaton, Illinois

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose