Framingham's Advocates was picked by state to open community behavioral health center

FRAMINGHAM — Seeking to provide regular and emergency assistance to residents going through mental health struggles, Advocates will open the doors of its new community behavioral health center to the public on Monday.

The new center, nearly a year in the making, is part of a plan unveiled by state officials last year to make mental health care more accessible. Advocates was among several human services agencies tapped by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to operate a community behavioral health center.

The center, at 1094 Worcester Road (Route 9), will offer a variety of services concerning mental health, including support for recovering addicts, group therapy, individual, family and couples counseling and crisis intervention. The center also provides emergency response to major issues.

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Advocates staff members hosted an open house Thursday ahead of Monday's formal opening. Several local and state officials, including Mayor Charlie Sisitsky and area legislators, were among those attending.

Danielle Dunn, vice president of integrated clinical services at Advocates, said the Framingham facility provides an alternative to urgent care centers, with shorter wait times and more convenient access to multiple types of services.

"It's an alternative to hospital emergency rooms for behavioral health crises," she said. "It houses counseling, addiction recovery services, care coordination, nursing, psychiatry, pharmacy, some laboratory services, peer support, mobile crisis intervention and adult community crisis stabilization all under the same roof, making it easier for people to access all the care they need."

Diane Gould, president and CEO of Advocates, said the Route 9 location will cut down barriers and allow easier access to mental health services in Framingham.

"In the center, residents of all ages will find integrated and coordinated care for a wide range of problems," she said. "It means that people can walk into the center and get immediate help for an urgent problem without having to spend hours on the phone, trying to find a therapist."

The new location unifies many services that Advocates had offered in different locations, bringing them under one roof. Dunn said the nonprofit plans to soon bring even more services to Framingham.

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"Many of our CBHC (community behavioral health center) services were previously offered in different locations," Dunn said. "Pending licensure from the Department of Health, we’ll be offering most of our CBHC services at the new location in Framingham later this month. Our adult community crisis stabilization program will move to our new location in March and our youth community crisis stabilization program will open in the spring."

Framingham Deputy Police Chief Sean Riley spoke during Thursday's open house, noting the success that the Framingham Police Department has had in working with Advocates and other mental health partners. Riley said statistics associated with mental health are alarming, and the entire community needs to be on alert if they observe any issues.

"Mental health is a critical issue, it's a really big problem in our nation today," Riley said. "This morning, I heard on the news that 57% of the female teenage population noted that they felt persistently depressed, and one in three considered suicide. That was incredible to hear this morning, we need to take that into account each and every day when we are out there, as police officers, as residents of the community and really watch over our kids, our co-workers and our loved ones every day."

The Framingham facility contains dozens of rooms of various sizes for individual and group therapy and recovery work. The newly renovated property is near Framingham State University, and is easily accessible via public transportation.

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Director Brooke Doyle praised the new facility for leading the way in the state's mental health iniatives.

"Places and environments are healing, and this is a very warm, healing place. I'm so grateful for everybody for taking the spirit of what we were trying to do, and realizing it. Not just creating a space, but by creating an environment to heal, right when people walk in," Doyle said.

John Bullerjahn, a Framingham resident who is an Advocates client, originally used the service while getting help with his stepchildren. But following several serious medical challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic and the end of his marriage, Bullerjahn turned to Advocates for his own support.

"Getting through these challenges would be one of the hardest courses I've ever had to navigate, but Advocates was there with me through it all," he said. "During the two-year period during the pandemic, I didn't leave my apartment, but Advocates was always a candle on the water and it remains so today. I still look forward to the various Zoom meetings that keep me centered, and my new friends, most of whom I've never met in person."

For more information on the new Community Behavioral Health Center and the services offered by Advocates, visit www.advocates.org.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham behavioral health center among several to open in Mass.