Chester County officials unveil the new Human Needs Network Initiative

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Chester County is combating a mental health pandemic, a housing crisis, food insecurity and the skyrocketing cost of living with its new human needs network.

In many counties across the Commonwealth, calls to 211 or 988 link people in need with professionals — who in some cases, are too far away to act.

Pennsylvania’s wealthiest county is positioning qualified counselors on the line and specialists on the streets to reach people where they are. Chester County developed its Human Needs Network with input from more than 50 local organizations. Unused American Rescue Plan Act funds covered most of the county’s investment.

“Instead of calling Pittsburgh to be triaged for an issue, you’ll be calling a neighbor potentially who knows the nonprofits they’re going to try and connect you to,” said Josh Maxwell, chair of the county Board of Commissioners. “So, it’s making services more local and more attainable to people.”

For months, the county Department of Human Services softly rolled out its own contact center to handle 211 and 988 calls. The county also assembled a handful of mobile crisis resolution teams. To date, the call center has dispatched the unit more than 350 times across the county.

Officials recently shared their early successes with Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, who toured the new center.

“The county is taking all the resources at their disposal — some fantastic staff and real leadership from their county commissioners — and putting together this system of crisis response that is obviously very effective and is only going to continue to improve to serve the residents of Chester County,” Arkoosh said.

Three pillars of care in Chester County

The Human Needs Network of Chester County is built on a foundation of three pillars: someone to talk to, someone to respond and somewhere to go.

To find someone to talk to, county residents just need to dial 211 or 988. Those calls are routed to a room of counselors and specialists at the Chester County Government Services Center.

The call center went live in April, receiving calls to 211. Since then, the county’s information and referral navigators have answered more than 1,000 calls a month. A majority of the calls come from Coatesville and West Chester.

Once someone dials 211, a staff member evaluates the needs and dispatches an information and referral mobile navigator.

“Overall, we’re really excited to get our teams out into the field and issue these services and referrals,” said Joshua Bitler, program director for the county’s Information and Referral Services program.

In May, the county incorporated another service within the call center: 988 crisis counselors who can dispatch mobile crisis response teams (MCRT). Each team consists of a behavioral health clinician and a certified peer specialist. MCRT is located in the new Equity Health Center in Coatesville.

If someone calls 988 in Chester County and requests a mobile dispatch, an on-call counselor notifies an MCRT and sends them to the scene. The duo evaluates the client and reports their findings to a supervisor. The three work together to determine the level of care.

The goals of the initiative are to prevent future crises and decrease the involvement of police and emergency medical personnel unless necessary. Bridget Brown, program director for the county’s Behavioral Health Crisis Response, said her and Bitler are using a “no wrong door” approach.

“So if you happen to call me — and it’s information and referral, I’m not going to tell you to hang up and call Josh,” Brown said. “I’m going to talk to you, figure out what it is that you need and then work with you to get you connected to Josh to make sure that you have those services and vice versa. That’s the bonus of having our teams work together in the room.”

The county is currently developing a mental health urgent care center for crisis stabilization to give residents somewhere safe to go.