Officials to Provide Update on Thursday, July 20, on Proposed Behavioral Health Diversion Center in Rockville to Help Individuals in Crisis

Montgomery County officials will host a project update on the proposed Diversion Center in Rockville at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, in the auditorium of the Executive Office Building, located at 101 Monroe Street in Rockville. The meeting also will be accessible virtually via Microsoft TEAMS.

The behavioral health diversion center will treat individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. 

County officials participating in the July 20 meeting will include:

• Earl Stoddard, the County’s assistant chief administrative officer
• Rolando Santiago, chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services of the County’s Department of Health and Human Services
• David Dise, director of the County Department of General Services (DGS)
• Greg Ossont, deputy director of DGS

The County is opening the diversion center to help reduce the use of emergency rooms and jail. The center will be available to individuals in crisis who are dropped off by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or police, persons transferred from hospitals, persons who are released from the central processing unit at the detention center and inmates released from jail and court programs. A team of multidisciplinary professionals will staff the center including nurses, licensed mental health and addiction professionals, peer specialists and resource navigators.

The center will provide a variety of behavioral health services including triage, crisis stabilization and referrals to appropriate services. The services are designed to stabilize individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis during the first hours and up to three days. The center will operate 24 hours a day, 365 days per year.

An initial public meeting was held in October 2022 to hear from City of Rockville officials and community members. A second meeting in April provided an update on questions raised at the October 2022 meeting.