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Connecticut to temporarily cut 10 rehab beds for young adults amid statewide mental health crisis

Hartford Courant - 10/26/2021

The state is closing a residential treatment program in Hartford for young adults with mental health and substance use disorders, temporarily eliminating 10 beds amid a national and statewide surge in mental health emergencies.

The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services said Monday its lease was not renewed for the Blue Hills Avenue building that houses Hilltop Residential Program, one of several facilities in Connecticut that transitions young adults from the Department of Children and Families to the adult mental health system.

The state is planning to replace the lost beds early next year by creating 10 new residential placements in Hartford. In the meantime, the Young Adult Services program will offer just 21 beds in Hartford, according to the labor union representing mental health workers in the facility.

Mongillo said the 10 beds DMHAS restores in early 2022 will support individuals with more complex needs. It’s not clear how the services will differ from those at Hilltop, a supervised apartment building that provides clinical care and counseling to young adults with psychiatric and substance use disorders.

Hilltop’s five residents — the program is currently operating at half-capacity — will move to similar placements in Hartford, DMHAS spokesman Art Mongillo said.

Hilltop will close Nov. 19, according to an Oct. 19 letter the state Office of Policy and Management sent to the New England Health Care Employees Union, an SEIU affiliate.

The letter said all employees would receive new work assignments, but it did not mention the plan to establish new beds to replace those eliminated at Hilltop.

The labor union swiftly denounced the closure out of concern for the population its members serve.

In a response to DMHAS acting Commissioner Nancy Navarreta, union president Rob Baril argued that shuttering Hilltop would disproportionately harm Black, Hispanic and Latino individuals “at the same time youth suicide and overdoses are skyrocketing and communities like Hartford that have been disinvested of critical services need mental health services now more than ever.”

Rebecca Lurye can be reached at rlurye@courant.com.

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