County and city leaders recently broke ground on a new Substance Abuse and Mental Health Crisis Center in Boise. The new facility is scheduled to open March, 2010.

During a press conference at the construction site, Ada County Commission Chairman Fred Tilman announced that Terry Reilly Health Services had been awarded the operations contract for the new facility. Terry Reilly Health Services Executive Director Timothy Brown expressed his organization's gratitude for being selected. "The employees of Terry Reilly Health Services are honored to have been selected to operate this new facility. We look forward to building and growing partnerships with all of the parties that have worked so tirelessly to advance this project to meet a critical need in our community."

The detox center is a direct outgrowth of Boise Mayor David Bieter's 2005 Regional Summit on Detoxification Services which examined the need for substance abuse sobering and detox facilities in the Treasure Valley and led to creation of a 16-member Community Detox Steering Committee. The committee established a Working Group that has spent more than three years assembling a valley-wide coalition of public and private entities, examining best practices from around the country, drafting operations and funding plans, and identifying financing opportunities. The 9,200 square foot facility will extend emergency sobering services, detoxification services, and mental health crisis services to Boise Valley residents. The facility is planned to provide a sobering station, 12 beds for detoxification, and eight beds for mental health crisis.

Other funding partners include United Way of Treasure Valley, Region IV Mental Health Board, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, St. Luke's Regional Medical Center and the Community Detox Coalition. Additional construction funding was provided through federal funds brought to Idaho by Idaho's congressional delegation.