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A healthy home
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| Karen Rice, senior vice president of Meridian, gazes at a project that the patients have been working on, called the Diversity Collage. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare in need of more room
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare needs acreage to build housing for children with mental health or drug addiction problems, Sr. Vice President Karen Rice said.
Right now, Meridian rents a house in Lake City to use as a group home for
12 boys, who are 13 to 17 years old. They all have serious emotional or behavioral problems and/or a mental illness. The house has no recreation area and it is on a main road, Rice said.
It presents a rather bleak environment for the boys to recover from their problems.
Known as the Achievement Center, this residential group home helps boys develop through individualized treatment plans. It is educationally centered. Residents must attend school or be involved in Columbia County’s GED program, she said.
The average length of stay in this program, Rice said, is one year.
This program is critical to prevent delinquency and high school drop out, she added. This program helps to keep these boys off the streets and out of trouble, she said.
Many of them have been “bounced around in foster care most of their lives and have never had a stable environment, in which to build their foundation,” she said.
The Achievement Center offers the yongsters hope for their future, she said. The program gives the boys skills that are needed to make good choices and tools for recovery, she said. Anyone who is interested in donating land can call Rice at (352) 374-5600, Ext. 8187.
Another Meridian residential mental health program for 16 boys, between
13 and 17 years old, she said, deals with drug addiction. Most of the boys in this program are sent into the program by courts, she said, but there are other referrals as well.
The beds are always full in both programs, she said.
The recreational facilities in this program are scant. One basketball hoop, one volleyball net and one punching bag are all the boys can use in an area that is smaller than a football field.
“Ideally, we would have five to 10 acres in a rural part of Columbia County,” Rice said. “The school system here has been incredibly supportive. Our call to action in the community is that we need land for these group homes. If we get enough land, we can include girls in separate programs.”
Beyond the need for land, Rice would like people to overcome misgivings they have about mental health.
“There’s such a horrible stigma attached to the services we provide,” she said. “We want there to be greater awareness about mental health. Talk about it. If you need help, then seek help.”
One out of every five families in the United States has been or is directly affected by mental illness, she said.
“It’s like diabetes,” she said. “ You cannot help that you have it. You’re not being lazy. It is not a personal defect. If you follow your medicine regimen, then you do not have problems. But, just like with diabetes, if you get off your medicine, then there can be a problem.”
People talk about diabetes, she said. People should be able to talk about mental health issues in the same way.
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare provides mental health services in Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Putnam (acute care only), Suwannee and Union counties.
Anyone in those counties who believes they need mental health care can call (800) 330-5616 and they will be directed to a person to help them, Rice said.
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare believes that each person deserves to be treated with respect and to be empowered to direct the care that he or she receives, she said. Care is delivered in a culturally competent and multidisciplinary manner.
Individualized services are provided in the least restrictive environment possible with the goal of increasing quality of life in a manner that allows effective integration into the community, activities and lifestyle of choice, Rice said.
There are about 60 different programs, Rice said. The categories of services provided by Meridian Behavioral Healthcare cover mental health, substance abuse, forensics, residential treatment, outreach and intervention, supported employment and residential and housing services for the mentally ill.
The 2007 annual report for the company shows it provided $1.3 million worth of charity care. There were 12,682 individuals enrolled in treatment in 2007. Another 13,414 persons were served in the 10-county area through prevention and outreach programs, the annual report showed.
More than 80 percent of the clients live at, or below, the federal poverty level, the report showed.
By having workers in offices throughout the service area, $15.8 million in salaries went back into local economies, the report showed, and there was more than $4 million in contributions to local economies.
Other than the inpatient and residential treatment centers in Lake City, there is another one in Gainesville. Outpatient treatment centers are in Bronson, Cross City, Gainesville, Jasper Lake Butler, Lake City, Live Oak, Starke and Trenton.
Right now, Meridian rents a house in Lake City to use as a group home for
12 boys, who are 13 to 17 years old. They all have serious emotional or behavioral problems and/or a mental illness. The house has no recreation area and it is on a main road, Rice said.
It presents a rather bleak environment for the boys to recover from their problems.
Known as the Achievement Center, this residential group home helps boys develop through individualized treatment plans. It is educationally centered. Residents must attend school or be involved in Columbia County’s GED program, she said.
The average length of stay in this program, Rice said, is one year.
This program is critical to prevent delinquency and high school drop out, she added. This program helps to keep these boys off the streets and out of trouble, she said.
Many of them have been “bounced around in foster care most of their lives and have never had a stable environment, in which to build their foundation,” she said.
The Achievement Center offers the yongsters hope for their future, she said. The program gives the boys skills that are needed to make good choices and tools for recovery, she said. Anyone who is interested in donating land can call Rice at (352) 374-5600, Ext. 8187.
Another Meridian residential mental health program for 16 boys, between
13 and 17 years old, she said, deals with drug addiction. Most of the boys in this program are sent into the program by courts, she said, but there are other referrals as well.
The beds are always full in both programs, she said.
The recreational facilities in this program are scant. One basketball hoop, one volleyball net and one punching bag are all the boys can use in an area that is smaller than a football field.
“Ideally, we would have five to 10 acres in a rural part of Columbia County,” Rice said. “The school system here has been incredibly supportive. Our call to action in the community is that we need land for these group homes. If we get enough land, we can include girls in separate programs.”
Beyond the need for land, Rice would like people to overcome misgivings they have about mental health.
“There’s such a horrible stigma attached to the services we provide,” she said. “We want there to be greater awareness about mental health. Talk about it. If you need help, then seek help.”
One out of every five families in the United States has been or is directly affected by mental illness, she said.
“It’s like diabetes,” she said. “ You cannot help that you have it. You’re not being lazy. It is not a personal defect. If you follow your medicine regimen, then you do not have problems. But, just like with diabetes, if you get off your medicine, then there can be a problem.”
People talk about diabetes, she said. People should be able to talk about mental health issues in the same way.
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare provides mental health services in Alachua, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Putnam (acute care only), Suwannee and Union counties.
Anyone in those counties who believes they need mental health care can call (800) 330-5616 and they will be directed to a person to help them, Rice said.
Meridian Behavioral Healthcare believes that each person deserves to be treated with respect and to be empowered to direct the care that he or she receives, she said. Care is delivered in a culturally competent and multidisciplinary manner.
Individualized services are provided in the least restrictive environment possible with the goal of increasing quality of life in a manner that allows effective integration into the community, activities and lifestyle of choice, Rice said.
There are about 60 different programs, Rice said. The categories of services provided by Meridian Behavioral Healthcare cover mental health, substance abuse, forensics, residential treatment, outreach and intervention, supported employment and residential and housing services for the mentally ill.
The 2007 annual report for the company shows it provided $1.3 million worth of charity care. There were 12,682 individuals enrolled in treatment in 2007. Another 13,414 persons were served in the 10-county area through prevention and outreach programs, the annual report showed.
More than 80 percent of the clients live at, or below, the federal poverty level, the report showed.
By having workers in offices throughout the service area, $15.8 million in salaries went back into local economies, the report showed, and there was more than $4 million in contributions to local economies.
Other than the inpatient and residential treatment centers in Lake City, there is another one in Gainesville. Outpatient treatment centers are in Bronson, Cross City, Gainesville, Jasper Lake Butler, Lake City, Live Oak, Starke and Trenton.
