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Connie Hammond
Scioto Paint Valley Mental Health Center
449 S. R. 159
Chillicothe, OH 45601
The Crisis Center of the Scioto Paint Valley Mental Health Center is a 24 hour telephone and walk-in center for those people in our community that are in crisis and need stabilization. Our Crisis Center provides services to to a five county catchment area. We began providing crisis intervention in March of l978. I have been volunteer coordinator of this program for l5 years. Trained paraprofessional volunteers answer the crisis lines for all five counties as well as providing stabilization to those 'people who walk in 24 hours a day. Our volunteers have licensed professional backup available to them 24 hours a day.
Total contacts made with our Center average l200 calls and walk-ins a month. Problem areas worked with range from anxiety & depression, suicide, marital, domestic violence, rape, substance abuse, parent/child, hospital screening, psychosis to information and referral.
It is my belief that trained paraprofessionals working a four hour shift once a week provide a healthier intervention than that of a paid staff person working 40 hours per week.
Recruitment is the first step in getting responsible people to volunteer. Our volunteers range from l8 to the retired population. I look for those people with a cognitive approach who care about those people in our community. I look for those people that have good communication skills in the interview. It is important that prospective volunteers are stable community people wanting only to help people gain stabilization in their lives.
We offer a 52 hour Intensive Crisis Management training. This training consists of lectures, reading material and experiential role-playing. It is our goal to enhance communication skills already possessed and educate the prospective applicants in a wide variety of topic areas.
Retention is imperative. We have 65 volunteers at this time with some of the volunteers having volunteered over 7000 hours. We offer ongoing training, recognition of services provided as well as social events. The Mental Health Center supports and shows ongoing appreciation
to the volunteers of the Crisis Center. We have found that our volunteers are one of the best means of recruitment. Our volunteers take ownership of their program and have a great deal of pride in what they offer to those people in crisis.
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