By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Bowen Center is rolling out a new mobile crisis service that officials hope will serve all of Kosciusko County by the end of the year.
Representatives of Bowen Center told the County Commissioners on Tuesday that they’ve been working closely with the CARES unit in Warsaw which was established several years ago to assist people facing a range of emergency circumstances such as mental health and substance abuse issues.
“We’re working closely with Chris Fancil and CARES. We’ve collaborated with them for some time, now talking to them more specifically about when are they serving, where are they serving, how can we do a complimentary service so we’re both working together for the good of the county,” said Tess Ottenweller, vice president of intensive services for Bowen Center.
She said the goal is to make crisis services available “any time for anyone anywhere.”
County officials have applauded efforts in the past by CARES, which serves primarily the city of Warsaw and Wayne Township with a mission to assist people, many of whom come in contact with police and fire personnel.
“I know Warsaw has seen some success in their CARES program so it’s cool to see that we’ve been able to expand that out in the whole county,” said County Commissioner Cary Groninger.
Bowen now has expanded its 24 service for crisis support at its Pierceton facility to better meet that need and is also working to expand its peer support program.
“With the addition of these new services, Kosciusko residents are really going to be able to get better care,” Ottenweller said.
Officials said they also intend to extend mobile crisis services to Huntington, Wabash, Whitley and Marshall counties.
