ByAnsley Franco

Five years ago, the Children’s of Alabama hospital opened the Psychiatric Intake Response Center (PIRC), a confidential phone center to help adult callers find mental health resources for children and adolescents. Since March 2018, the PIRC has grown from just four employees to 14 part-time and full-time employees now.

According to The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation studies, there has been an increase in children’s mental health needs following social isolation due to the pandemic, especially among children who experience adverse childhood experiences.

“Right now, we are seeing kids in such a crisis that they are thinking about harming themselves and are experiencing suicidal feelings,” said Cynthia Jones, Director of the Psychiatric Intake Response Center. “And much of that, I think, has been driven by the fact that there has been so much disruption to children’s lives, and that is primarily because of the pandemic. We’ve had children who had these issues prior to the pandemic. So, it’s not like all the sudden the pandemic caused it, but it certainly exacerbated what is an underlying concern about children’s mental health.”

In 2017, after a search team from Children’s of Alabama visited three psychiatric intake centers in Ohio and Colorado, Jones said the group felt that a program like this would best meet the needs of the communities in Alabama. “The reason for that is because these programs were helping anyone in the community identify and find the most appropriate mental health resources, and a lot of people were at a loss for what to do once they find out their child has a mental health concern,” she said.

When an adult calls in, they speak to a licensed mental health professional who will conduct a brief questionnaire to determine the issues concerning their child. The PIRC therapist will then access the database of mental health providers they think would be the best solution for the situation.

Over the past five years, the database has grown from 250 providers in central Alabama to more than 1,600 across the state. “Our team continues to add and update providers in the community. This is actually public knowledge. We’re not providing any information that you couldn’t find online or by calling these practices,” Jones said. “We are not endorsing anyone. We simply hope we can take down some of the barriers by identifying available mental health providers, and offering what we think would be the best resource in their community for their child to get help.”

The therapists not only answer the phone and provide resources but also see the patients who come into the Emergency Department as part of the psychiatric consult team. The team is composed of the Medical Director, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and licensed mental health professionals.

“We felt like we needed that level of qualified therapists in order to better understand the needs of our callers, and be able to not only find the right resources, but to also educate and answer questions they have about what’s going on with their child,” Jones said. “We’ve found that parents have been relieved to speak to someone knowledgeable about mental health concerns for children and adolescents, educate them, and point them in the right direction. We are able to help families avoid a crisis because they are taking steps ahead of time before a problem turns into an emergency.”

This PIRC is not a crisis or suicide hotline, though Jones said some adults have called in after a child has done something that gives them concern or has expressed suicidal thoughts. In circumstances like this, PIRC therapists advise the family to take the child to the nearest emergency room to receive treatment.

As the PIRC continues to provide this service to the community, Jones hopes people will gain greater access to mental health care.