Contact for news media inquiries: CSB Communications Team, 703-324-7000.
“If it wasn’t for Turning Point I wouldn’t be where I am today.” 
“Turning Point changed my life. I was 21 when I got sick, I was lost in my own world and my family took me to several places until I came to the right one. I have schizophrenia. I never thought my life could be better, I was feeling like crap all the time until I met people who helped me a lot. Now I am thankful to my family and Turning Point for helping me live a better life."
“I feel that Turning Point offers hope for my son. I don't know what we would do without them. He just bought a football and asked his brother to play catch with him. This might seem insignificant to some people but for the mother of a son with mental illness it feels like a miracle.”
The CSB’s Turning Point program, which provides coordinated services for young people who are experiencing their first psychotic episode, is being expanded in early 2019 to include services for those who are Clinically High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P).
Turning Point offers a recovery-oriented approach that involves shared decision-making to address the unique needs and recovery goals of young people who have had an initial mental health episode. The Turning Point program currently serves youth ages 16-25; under the expansion, age eligibility will begin at age 14. As part of grant activities, staff from Turning Point’s CHR-P program will reach out to schools, colleges, the faith community, medical and psychiatric practices, and the general community to educate people about psychosis, early intervention, its symptoms, and how to access the program.
Thanks to the new $400,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the CSB will now be able to identify, intervene, and treat more young people more quickly. With early treatment and supports, symptoms of psychosis can be managed. Early detection and intervention is the key to helping a person maximize their ability to stay in school, work, stay engaged in community activities and live a full, healthy life.
“Clearly, there was a need for this grant expansion,” said Lori Bell, Turning Point program manager. “Due to strict admittance criteria, Turning Point was unable to accept roughly 200 individuals into the program that did not meet criteria over the first couple of years in operation. This new grant opens the door to a wider number of young people at risk for psychosis, those experiencing attenuated psychosis, and those experiencing prodromal symptoms of psychosis, but who do not meet the full criteria for Turning Point’s First Episode Psychosis (FEP) program. “Turning Point’s FEP Program and the new CHR-P program will play a pivotal role in helping those at risk to transition successfully through various phases of young adulthood,” said Bell.
Based at CSB’s Merrifield Center, Turning Point launched in 2016 with an grant from SAMHSA. The program has served 64 individuals, with a majority of those receiving services for a full two years. Turning Point currently has 32 individuals enrolled.
Learn more about the early warning signs of psychosis.
Listen to an in-depth episode of the County Conversation podcast (22 min.) with Turning Point clinician Krissy Anderson to learn more about Turning Point.
Contact Information
Contact for news media inquiries: Lucy Caldwell, Communications Director, 703-324-7006 (office), 703-856-5210 (cell).
