TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
New this morning,
thousands in Southern Arizona have been kept out of hospitals and jails thanks
to a voter approved crisis response center, and in its first year its helped
save tens of millions of dollars.
The goal of the crisis
response hotline is to give specific help, but also to relieve the stress on
911 call centers, jails and emergency rooms, like the one at UAMC. In its first year it has done just that.
It's a massive one-stop
resource center, helping anyone in the community who is in crisis. It could be because of drug abuse, someone
who's facing depression or someone who's concerned about a family member or
neighbor.
It opened in August 2011
and Tucson is getting a first look at the impact.
The center helped about
13,000 adults and children in its first year, that's just in person.
The 24/7 crisis phone line
took more than 135,000 phone calls, again just in its first year. They redirected thousands from jails,
hospitals and calls from 911.
Officials say it has also
helped financially. They say it is tough
to put a dollar figure on the crisis center, but they believe it has saved the
criminal justice system anywhere from $45 million to $75 million so far.
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