Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Behavioral Health Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Via Health outlines local behavioral health and crisis services available to Caswell residents
Summary
Via Health, a state Medicaid managed care organization, presented service usage and local behavioral health resources including outpatient therapy, peer support, a walk‑in center, mobile crisis response and the Innovations waiver for home‑based supports.
Via Health gave a quarterly update to the Caswell County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 4 about local behavioral health services and member usage patterns.
Kara Donner, community relations director for Via Health, said Via serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, substance use disorders and certain foster‑care populations and has recently moved toward integrated physical and behavioral services. Donner highlighted outpatient therapy and peer support as commonly used services and pointed commissioners to a local RHA behavioral health office that accepts Medicaid and offers sliding‑scale fees.
Donner described the statewide Mobile Crisis service and provided the hotline number, +1 (844) 709‑4097, noting that by law a mobile crisis team must reach a caller within two hours. She also noted the regional Alamance Behavioral Health Center in Burlington as a nearby walk‑in option.
Donner said Via participates in schools and community outreach and mentioned an Innovations waiver that can pay families up to $130,000 per year to support a family member who would otherwise require institutional care; she said there is a waiting list that can be years long.
Why it matters: Commissioners and staff said the county benefits from having more behavioral health resources available locally and that better awareness could reduce use of emergency departments for behavioral crises.
Details and outreach: Donner emphasized that many services do not require Medicaid — the RHA office takes uninsured clients on a sliding scale — and she provided the RHA walk‑in center phone number, (336) 694‑1175, and hours. Via also supports peer specialists and system‑of‑care activities in schools.
Donner urged residents to use mobile crisis and local walk‑in resources rather than emergency departments and noted that some community problems (for example, youth access to THC products from unregulated vape shops) increase the need for services.
Ending: Donner said Via Health will continue quarterly updates and offered to meet individually with commissioners at the upcoming county commissioners’ conference.
Note on sourcing: All service descriptions and phone numbers reported here were presented by Kara Donner of Via Health during the commissioners’ presentation.
