GREAT FALLS — The loud swings of sledgehammers marked the start of construction Thursday, Oct. 29, on a behavioral health crisis center at Indian Family Health Clinic in Great Falls.
WATCH Madison Collier's report below:
The center will give people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis a place to receive support, rest, and connect with ongoing treatment. When appropriate, it will also give first responders an alternative to taking someone to jail or an emergency department.
“People suffering with mental illness, and suffering through a mental health crisis, don't belong in jail,” Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said. “They need a chance to be able to get well, and get back on their feet, and get the proper treatment that they need.”
The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office is leading the project alongside Indian Family Health Clinic, Many Rivers Whole Health and the Great Falls Police Department.
The clinic is providing the second-floor space at 1220 Central Ave., and Many Rivers Whole Health is expected to staff the center.
Funding includes a $1.4 million Crisis Diversion Grant through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Of that, $1 million will go to the center, while $400,000 will support a mobile response team.
The center will begin with intake services, allowing people to stay for up to 23 hours and 59 minutes.
Cascade County Crisis Diversion Coordinator Kami Stone said that time can help someone rest, work through an overwhelming situation and identify their next steps.
“And usually someone who is in crisis, like you're just so overwhelmed, you don't know the first step and you just need help getting connected to services,” Stone said.
The planned team includes a clinician, peer supports and care coordinators who will help people connect with providers and resources throughout the community.
Looking forward, she said a later phase would add stabilization services for people who need longer stays.
“Stabilizing will be phase two and we'll be looking at doing that later on down the road,” Stone explained. “That would be somewhere for someone to stay up to two weeks.”
No exact timeline has been set for that phase.
The center and mobile response team are part of a coordinated approach that provides someone to call, someone to respond, somewhere to receive crisis care and connections to ongoing community support. Stone expects the mobile team to begin operating by the end of 2026.
However, before the center can welcome people, crews must prepare the space.
Indian Family Health Clinic Executive Director Rachel Arthur said the clinic has worked with the Great Falls Development Alliance for two years to secure separate federal Brownfields funding for that work.
Abatement is expected to begin in the coming weeks, addressing hazardous materials, including asbestos and lead, before a full rebuild.
Construction is projected to finish in June 2027, with the goal of opening receiving services by July.
“The center supports everybody in our community,” Arthur said.
