Lowell, MA – On December 4, Vinfen welcomed local healthcare and elected officials to celebrate the opening of an expanded Społeczne Centrum Zdrowia Behawioralnego (CBHC) in Lowell. A leading provider of community-based services for people with mental health conditions, behavioral health challenges, intellectual and developmental disabilities and brain injuries, Vinfen is a long-standing advocate for increasing access to community-based services to meet behavioral health needs. This second location for the organization’s Community Behavioral Health Center is located at 391 Varnum Avenue.

The new CBHC location features 13 Community Crisis Stabilization (CCS) beds, which provide separate assessment and stabilization programs through short-term admissions for youth and adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis in a structured, home-like, and supportive environment. The CCS program is designed as a more therapeutic alternative to locked in-patient psychiatric units, where Vinfen will be directing the youth CCS services, while our partner organization, Advocates, runs the adult CCS program.

“There is an urgent need for greater access to this type of service in this community; the CBHC returns adult crisis stabilization services to the region while adding similar services for young people,” says Jean Yang, President and CEO of Vinfen. “This type of program is transformative and impactful, diverting individuals from ER visits and adding capacity to help people who may have co-occurring medical issues and behavioral health issues.”

Created as part of a Statewide initiative to improve access to behavioral health services, Vinfen’s CBHC is one of just twenty-six in the state, operating under a contract awarded by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Since opening in January of 2023 at 40 Church Street in Lowell, the CBHC has been offering outpatient services for youth (ages 13-18) and adults, including individualized assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis of behavioral health issues; individual, family, and/or group therapy; substance use & recovery services; medication management; case management and care coordination services. This is in addition to the Mobile Crisis Intervention (MCI) program, operated in collaboration with Advocates, that provides 24/7/365 response and travel to meet with youth and adults experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis in their home, school, workplace, and other community settings.

The addition of CCS services allows Vinfen to meet the challenge of providing a comprehensive array of supports, while creating a “one-stop-shop” experience for individuals, building a continuity of care that is often scarce in behavioral health.

For more information about Vinfen’s Community Behavioral Health Center and its services, please call 978–674–6744, email [email protected], or visit Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC) | Vinfen.