An Oakton-based nonprofit has been sounding an alarm about Fairfax County’s plans to eliminate funding for a key mental health program.
The fiscal year 2027 budget presented by County Executive Bryan Hill in February would terminate a $618,952 contract for BeWell, a program run by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) and the nonprofit HopeLink Behavioral Health that coaches people living with serious mental illnesses on their overall health and wellness.
Fairfax County officials finalized the purchase of a Chantilly property earlier this month to support an expansion of care for adults seeking mental health treatment.
The property, located at 14554 Lee Road, currently operates as Connections Chantilly, a 16-bed, short-term residential treatment center. It will soon be reclassified as a Crisis Receiving and Stabilization Center, meaning it will “provide an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization … and will offer treatment for those who also need safe withdrawal from substances.”
Fairfax County will soon have a void to fill at the agency that provides its behavioral health services.
Daryl Washington, who has led the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) since 2018, has been appointed commissioner of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger announced on Monday (Jan. 5).
Having seen a major drop in opioid overdoses among teens, some Fairfax County supervisors want to focus prevention efforts on young adults.
The 18-to-24 and 25-to-34 age groups appear to be where services need to be intensified, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said during a Nov. 25 briefing on the county’s opioid services.
Two years after it started exploring the idea, the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (CSB) is starting to make progress on establishing a regional youth mental health facility.
The new treatment center for teens could become operational in Chantilly early next year, the CSB says.
A Fairfax County substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation program is getting its first major renovation and expansion since the building opened in 1994.
A zoning application filed with Fairfax County says the Crossroads rehab facility, operated by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, has assorted maintenance issues that have gone unaddressed for years.
In 2023, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allocated $15 million to the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Service Board to construct or renovate a crisis receiving center for youth behavioral health emergencies.
After more than a year, however, Fairfax has yet to pick a location – the next step to getting the center operational.
As Virginia’s one state psychiatric hospital for youth continues to face bed shortages, additional regional youth mental health services could provide relief to kids and teens in Fairfax County.
While there are options for adults, Northern Virginia doesn’t have any crisis stabilization facilities for youth, according to Daryl Washington, executive director of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, which provides mental health, substance use and disability services.
The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board will have more money for mental health services, thanks to recent state budget amendments.
The CSB provides services related to mental health, substance use and developmental disabilities. Additional funding could include $2.5 million to cover both staff pay increases and the state’s program to standardize behavioral health community services (STEP-VA).
Fairfax County’s Merrifield Center has a new, slightly more descriptive name.
The Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health was officially christened at a dedication ceremony yesterday (Thursday), taking its name from the former Board of Supervisors chairman who helped develop the Diversion First initiative aimed at shifting people with mental health and substance use challenges to treatment instead of incarceration.
