Annually, the Center for Community Resources’ 24-hour crisis center receives about 16,000 calls, takes about 600 walk-ins, goes on about 960 mobile calls and serves 250 people with its interim housing program. It takes about 16,000 mental health related calls per year from 24 counties and it doubles as a center for 988, the national phone number people can call when experiencing a mental health crisis.

And the agency would have taken a hit financially if the state budget stayed in limbo much longer, potentially leaving the people it serves without the help they need. The agency would have needed a line of credit to fund its crisis operations by around December.

While the state budget passed on Wednesday, Nov. 12, administrators of the Center for Community Resources and Butler County were already weighing options to keep the center functioning. The Butler County Commissioners had committed to funding human services without state and federal help, but not without impedance to taxpayers. The center’s CEO, Brandon Savachka, said the county had to use money that was collecting interest in bank accounts to fund human services.

This center, and the services it provides, are essential for many people. Knowing there was a contingency plan to continue funding it is good to hear. The center helps many people maintain quality of life and it helps some people maintain their life itself. You cannot put a value on either.

So when negotiations on the state budget inevitably stall in future years, we hope Butler County’s Center for Community Resources won’t immediately be on the chopping block.

— ET