Grand Lake Mental Health breaks ground on campus expansion

Dec. 9—Grand Lake Mental Health Center broke ground Tuesday on a unique addition to its Bartlesville campus aimed at providing intensive treatment to families with children at risk of needing in-patient treatment.

The first of its kind in Oklahoma, the Brief Stay Therapeutic Home will be a 2,100-square-foot home that will house families for periods of up to five days, allowing them to receive individual and family therapy and address family dynamics.

GLMHC Chief Operating Officer Josh Cantwell said when kids require in-patient mental health care, that treatment is often far from home and not structured to address the family environment. The facility will target kids at risk for in-patient care to provide treatment before hospitalization is needed.

"The deal is we're trying to treat the whole family. It seems very intuitive that's what you would do, but what happens is when kids get removed from their home ... then they're coming home to an environment that hasn't changed at all," Cantwell said. "The kid got treatment and learned coping skills, but the parents haven't learned those skills that will promote healthy steps in their family."

The facility will be a single-family home with two bedrooms and four bathrooms located at 709 South Penn Ave., next door to GLMHC's existing building. It will be fully furnished and include typical home amenities, including a kitchen, living area and dining area.

Families, identified by GLMHC through existing work in the community and through the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, will stay in home for periods ranging from 12 hours to five days.

During that time, the family members will undergo structured individual and family therapy and GLMHC staff will use cameras in common areas of the home and earpieces to coach parents on how to handle interactions, Cantwell said.

By treating the family as a whole, Cantwell said GLMHC hopes to reduce the number of kids removed from homes for treatment and other issues.

"Working with kids and families in a natural setting is a much more preferred answer to

solving issues ... We're confident we can deliver better outcomes and show this concept is a game changer when it comes to keeping children with their families," he said.

The facility is expected to be operational in the spring and GLMHC plans to open additional BSTH locations throughout northeastern Oklahoma in the coming years. The nonprofit also plans to begin work on a structured 24-hour crisis center on the Bartlesville campus within the next 18 months, he said.

While GLMHC does work throughout the region, Bartlesville was selected for the ongoing community support for health and families in need, Cantwell said.

Bartlesville Mayor Dale Copeland, who attended the groundbreaking, said the facility will be a good extension of services for local families.

"It extends the services. A lot of our neighbors need different kinds of medical care, certainly this is one that has been underserved. ... that it's locating in Bartlesville will help the existing services and make them even better," Copeland said.

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