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Brownstone Youth Services (319)229-2240

Overview of Program

At Brownstone Youth Services (BYS) where our mission is “to provide youth and their caregivers with support, acceptance, reassurance, and services to grow as individuals and as a family unit.”

Brownstone Youth Services (BYS) is here to provide youth and their caregivers with support during a mental health crisis. It is important to work with youth and their caregivers so that when the youth is integrated back into the community, the youth and family are working together as a unit when it comes to the care plan. We believe that this can excel the chances of success for the youth long term. BYS is able to show support, acceptance, and reassurance by “meeting each individual where they are at,” upon arrival at our center. We then create a care plan as a team and align services that would tailor to their specific needs.

Key Goals

BYS will provide crisis stabilization residential services, to youth between the ages of 8-17 that have been determined to not need inpatient acute hospital psychiatric services AND are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Crisis residential services are short term services provided in a center of up to 16 beds. The goal of our center is to help “stabilize” the youth. The program will align the youth and their parent/caregiver with services that are tailored to their specific needs. This is determined by a Licensed Mental Health Specialist and care team. The center is designed for VOLUNTARY individuals who are in need of a safe, secure environment that is less intensive than that of an inpatient hospital.

  1. To provide on a short-term basis, a safe and comfortable environment for crisis stabilization. 

  2. To identify and connect the client to support systems prior to his or her discharge from Brownstone.

Admission Criteria

  1.  Is the individual presenting an active symptom consistent with a mental health crisis?

  2. Is the mental health crisis interfering with daily living?

  3. Do the factors leading to admission and/or the individual's history of treatment suggest the symptoms can be stabilized with crisis stabilization services?

  4. The individual does not require inpatient hospitalization but requires crisis stabilization services that may include medication, counseling, referral, peer support and linkage to ongoing services, not expected to exceed five days.

Referral Process

Any North Iowa Regional hospital, mental health provider, school or County Social Services can refer to our center. There is no ACCESS to parent/caregivers for referrals.

Once contacted by a referring agency/provider a referral packet will be sent out. BYS asks that all questions on the referral be answered to the fullest in order to ensure that the youth be accepted to the center and proper care can begin. The referral can either be emailed to the secure email attached to our center or they can be faxed to staff directly. Any background checks that come back on the sex offender registry OR active warrants will NOT be placed within our center. We may require additional information for the following criteria:

  • Physically disabled and not able to perform ADL’s (activities of daily living)

  • Actively psychotic

  • Acute medical needs

  • History of self- injurious behavior

  • History of violence or high risk of violence

  • Over the legal limit or impaired due to drug use

Calling Policy

Phone Usage for Youth at the Center:

Youth are able to make up to 3 phone calls a day. Each call can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes each. Youth are only able to call those individuals that are listed as “emergency contacts” during the intake process (parent/guardian/caretaker). These contacts are the SAME contacts that are allowed to come and visit the youth or take them outside of the center for visits/trips/appointments. NO OTHER family or friends are authorized. Professional workers are allowed to come to the center to visit clients but they have to sign in and provide a badge or ID of some kind. When youth are ready/wanting to use the phone, staff will be the ones to dial the number from the youth’s “emergency contact” list. This is to prevent the youth from making phone calls to individuals that are not on the contact list.

Visiting Policy

Visits:

Visits with the clients at our center are able to occur anytime between the hours of 10am-8pm. These visits are only with the people that are listed as “emergency contacts” in the client’s file. Clients are also allowed to leave the building with "approved emergency contacts" as long as they return by 8pm. Professionals that work with the clients are also able to meet with them at our center. We ask that everyone that enters the building to see a client, sign in AND bring an ID for staff to make a copy of.

Cell Phone Policy

Cell Phones:

Cell phone usage will be prohibited while the youth are at our center. However, cell phones are allowed into the building but they will be turned off and kept in the client’s personal tote, locked in the upstairs closet on side A/B. This way phones are not a distraction or used in inappropriate ways; possibly violating HIPPA.

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