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The Paradis family in West Hartford knows what it’s like to have a child in crisis, and they want to share their story in hopes of helping others who are looking for answers to get help for their young ones.

State lawmakers Thursday planned to debate an extension of funding for several urgent crisis centers, that provide behavior health care for young people and their families. The centers in Hartford, Waterbury, New London and New Haven serve as urgent cares for children and teens who are struggling with their mental health.

The Village’s walk-in, youth mental health Urgent Crisis Center (UCC) in Hartford is extending its hours of operation to meet an increased need for immediate mental health support for children and teens. Effective October 19, The Village’s UCC—located at 1680 Albany Avenue in Hartford—will be open on Saturdays from 3:00-11:00pm in addition to its existing schedule of Monday through Friday, 7:00am-11:00pm.

Connecticut finds itself in a midst of a mental health crisis. In the past two months, nine youth deaths by suicide have been reported in the state, compared to seven total in 2023. With National Suicide Prevention Month approaching in September, Gov. Ned Lamont held a roundtable at The Village’s Urgent Crisis Center in Hartford this week with representatives of state agencies and children’s mental and behavioral health organizations to emphasize youth suicide prevention.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal says that fighting suicide and declining mental health for young adults and children will need “probably billions” of dollars. At a news conference Monday morning, which was held at The Village’s Urgent Crisis Center – which serves as an urgent care for behavioral health services – the senator spoke alongside advocates for children’s mental health in the state, and cited social media and pandemic-borne isolation as some of the main causes for steep increases in suicide rates among young adults.

Stress or mental health problems in particular never take a holiday. No one knows that better than the staff inside Hartford’s Urgent Crisis Center for Children.

As we continue to follow the important news out of Lewiston, Maine, we have to remember how stories like these can impact you at home.

Students across Connecticut are heading back to school. But, the transition from home to the classroom can be challenging, especially after a difficult few years. At The Village for Families & Children in Hartford, staff stand ready to help. The Urgent Crisis Center has already seen 21 families and children, according to Amy Samela, the vice president of residential programs.

The Hartford UCC, located at The Village for Families and Children at 1680 Albany Ave. accepts walk-in patients who are welcomed into a colorful, playful waiting room and quickly met with a team of healthcare providers ranging from psychologists to triage nurses, who provide a broad spectrum of care for children in need.

Children and adolescents who are experiencing a mental health crisis can now receive the vital and immediate support needed to stabilize and begin healing at The Village for Families & Children’s new, walk-in Urgent Crisis Center (UCC) in Hartford.

There is a new resource for Connecticut kids. An Urgent Crisis Center is opening its doors at The Village For Families and Children in Hartford. It’s one of four centers like this in the state.

Wednesday marked the grand opening of The Village for Families and Children‘s urgent crisis center in Hartford. The centers are designed as walk-in, outpatient clinics for kids who are having behavioral health crises such as thoughts of suicide or self-harm, depression, anxiety or out-of-control behavior, among other mental health issues.

There are four urgent crisis centers opening statewide to better address the mental health needs of children and teens.

A couple of refurbished, old red brick houses on Asylum Avenue in Hartford now host two new models of mental health care for teens and children. The facilities are part of The Village for Families & Children and include an outpatient Urgent Crisis Center (UCC) which opened Thursday – it’s one of four UCCs statewide. An adjacent building will be the site of the state’s first and only sub-acute children’s mental health unit, scheduled to open in August.

Thursday, a new Urgent Crisis Center for children who experience mental health or behavioral emergencies opened in Hartford. The center will act just like an urgent care, but for mental health emergencies. Patients can show up unannounced or they can call ahead.

The Village for Families & Children will open Hartford’s first urgent crisis center for children experiencing mental health emergencies next month.

Amy Samela gave the I-Team a tour of what will be 1 of 4 urgent crisis centers coming to the state. These are centers created for kids and teens experiencing a mental health crisis, that don’t need to be in the emergency room.