‘Safe and stigma-free’: DuPage County Crisis Recovery Center marks anniversary
In its first year of operations, DuPage County’s Crisis Recovery Center has completed more than 2,200 on-site assessments, providing mental health and addiction recovery services to thousands of residents and easing the strain on area emergency rooms.
The center, which opened in Wheaton on Sept. 2, 2025, is designed to stabilize those in crisis and, in most cases, provide an ongoing care plan within 24 hours.
While the DuPage County Health Department has been the largest community mental health provider for decades, the center provides that “keystone element” needed to build what county Public Health Executive Director Adam Forker calls an “ideal behavioral health crisis system.”
“The CRC is now that single point of access for any behavioral health crisis happening in our county,” Forker told county board members during a presentation Sept. 8. “Together we’ve built a safe, stigma-free alternative to emergency rooms and to 911, and it is working.”
The center provides care for youth and adults experiencing a mental health crisis or in need of sobering services.
Of the more than 2,200 on-site assessments, 97% resulted in community care and only 3% involved inpatient treatment at an emergency room or a psychiatric facility. Officials also noted 386 youth received assessments at the center in its first year.
“Every single youth who goes through the door is a celebration for the entire county because it is one less person who is going to have a serious crisis as an adult,” county board Chair Deb Conroy said.
Conroy said she has heard countless stories from people who have had loved ones receive care at the center and the positive impact it made during a time of crisis.
“Today, in DuPage County it’s okay to not be okay,” Conroy said in a news release. “Now the Crisis Recovery Center is the place where anyone can go to receive professional, compassionate care regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay … Together we are saving lives.”
The York Township 708 Mental Health Board recently presented a $250,000 check to support ongoing operations at the center.
“The CRC is what happens when a community decides that someone in crisis should have somewhere to go,” York Township 708 Mental Health Board President Michael Ledonne said at the Sept. 8 county board meeting.
“That is not just good policy,” Ledonne added. “It is dignity. It is stewardship of the public trust, and it is hope made practical.”
In addition to the services provided, Forker said CRC employees have sought to improve protocols for police and paramedics when bringing patients to the center. They also worked with area hospitals and psychiatric facilities to improve direct admissions from the center rather than sending a patient to an emergency room.
Conroy said she hopes to one day see a satellite CRC campus to better serve residents in southern DuPage County. Forker said the CRC is also working on a public dashboard that will take a deeper dive into some of the statistics related to the services offered at the center.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Herald.