The Zepf Center will be receiving $1 million from the Ohio Office of Budget and Management controlling board, the state budget organization announced.

According to documents released by the controlling board last week, the money is to go toward renovations at Zepf’s facility at 2005 Ashland Ave. in central Toledo.

Planned upgrades include a 23-hour observation unit, a mobile crisis staffing room, crisis intake interview rooms, an urgent psychiatric care unit, and an adult crisis stabilization unit.

A youth crisis stabilization unit, which does not currently exist in the area, will also be created.

Deb Flores, Zepf Center CEO, said that the new improvements, financed in part through matching funds from the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, will provide necessary improvements to ensure her organization can properly care for patients.

“This will improve the mechanicals but also the safety features of the crisis stabilization units and the crisis care units,” Ms. Flores said, noting that it has been about two years since the company took on the crisis care aspect from the county.

She said the safety features that will be added include shatterproof windows and weighted furniture, which will be “state of the art” and “improve patient experience” to make a building that used to be a nursing home more of a place people want to be in.

“This is a major project for us,” she said. “It is super exciting for the staff to have more space and a better environment for the patients and their families.”

She said Zepf currently offers mobile crisis care for young people, in which employees will travel to those in need, in addition to therapy services and psychiatric urgent care, but it currently lacks the physical “crisis stabilization unit” in which more round-the-clock care can be provided.

“A stabilization unit is considered a step down from a true stay in a psychiatric hospital,” Ms. Flores said, nodding to Ohio Administrative Code, which defines a stabilization unit as being for those who need an “intermediate level of care” during a mental health crisis. “It is based on the model of having the least restrictive environment for people. Our stabilization unit is a voluntary setting. If the adult says they want to leave, we allow that.”

When it comes to working with youths, which Ms. Flores described as those under the age of 18, that involves more working with families, and space will be allocated in the renovations for families to come in and meet with loved ones, have case conferences, talk about what is going on, and support them when they go home.

“We know that there is a need for this in our community, but the resources have been limited,” Ms. Flores said.

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, which is listed as having “requested approval” with the controlling board for the $1 million to be released, said in a statement that the needs the Zepf Center is trying to fulfill with its renovations are prevalent all around Ohio.

“Across Ohio, people of all ages and their families are seeking care in record numbers for substance use disorder, and mental health concerns,” the organization said in the statement received Wednesday.

“A quality crisis services system provides needed assistance to Ohioans and their families before an emergency occurs, rapidly responds to and stabilizes the person while they are in crisis, and makes strong connections to community-based treatment services and needed supports after a crisis occurs. It is a critical part of our overall continuum of care,” the organization said.

The organization said that the controlling board’s approval of the $1 million request emphasizes the department’s commitment to partnering with Ohio’s 50 county-level mental health and recovery boards to address locally identified needs and gaps in mental health and substance use disorder services.

The Lucas County Mental Health Recovery Services Board will be taking its $1.8 million share of the project from levy funds earmarked for capital improvements, Ms. Flores said.

Board director Scott Sylak added that he was glad the board was able to seize the opportunity to secure some necessary dollars for one of its service providers.

“The state of Ohio has a community capital process that allows us to suggest a couple of capital projects each year,” Mr. Sylak said. “This year we selected Zepf Center and coupled that with some funds to develop their facility infrastructure to better provide crisis services.

“We have been working on developing crisis services, and the opportunity to link the $1 million with the Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, gain some traction from that fund, and comingle state and local dollars was what led us to make this decision,” he said.

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