Crisis Diversion Facility

In April 2019, more than 30 community stakeholders from the criminal justice system, healthcare, behavioral health system, and housing came together to participate in an Orange County Sequential Intercept Mapping (SIM) Workshop facilitated by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The SIM process is designed to inform and address community-based responses to the involvement of individuals with behavioral health issues and intercepts with the criminal justice system.

An intercept map and Final Report were created (SIM Final Report). One of the identified community gaps that emerged from this process was the critical need for a Crisis/Diversion facility to divert individuals in behavioral health crisis from the criminal justice system and the Emergency Departments at UNC Hospitals.

The Behavioral Health Task Force (BHTF), co-chaired by Barbara-Ann Bybel, Director of Inpatient Psychiatry Services at UNC Hospitals, and Caitlin Fenhagen, Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department Director, formed in 2019 to address the behavioral health intercept gaps identified in Orange County. 

Later in 2019, the Crisis/Diversion Facility Subcommittee was formed and tasked with bringing forth recommendations and a plan for a dedicated facility. The Subcommittee, under Tony Marimpietri’s leadership, met diligently and frequently to address this high-priority need.

In 2022, Orange County issued a Request for Qualifications to identify a qualified consultant to assist the county with preliminary/advanced planning services for the facility. In December 2022, the Board of Commissioners approved a contract with CPL Architects and RHA Health for $172,325.

Preliminary planning for the project is complete, and funding for full design is included in the manager's recommended FY 2023-24 Capital Improvement Plan.