Mental Health in Orange County: Be Well OC

What is Be Well OC?

1 in 6 people need assistance for substance abuse, mental health, or emotional issues in Orange County, and Be Well OC has taken initiative. The Coalition opened on September 16, 2021, and since then the crisis counselors have been addressing mental health concerns within Orange County. Be Well OC was founded by Marshall Moncrief and consists of two hundred physicians, nurses, and social workers.

Through activism, advocacy, and awareness, Be Well OC hopes to combat mental health stigma and assist those in need with its multifaceted programs. Be Well OC responds to mental health crises with the versatile Blueprint Result Area Action Plan that is made up of six primary goals and two programs. Overall, the plan wishes to advance mental health understanding and compassion in order to help those suffering. “In Huntington Beach, our dispatch center receives nearly 15,000 calls annually for mental health services. It has become clear that our City needs to become a part of the solution,” said Kim Carr, Huntington Beach Mayor from the Huntington Beach City Instagram, @cityofhb. 

The Blueprint

With both short and long-term goals, Be Well OC helps those in need with differing crisis response approaches. The Blueprint shares Be Well OC’s fundamental goals, with six overarching result area objectives: the destigmatization of mental health crises, early detection of mental health illnesses, improving accessibility to treatment resources, increasing crisis stabilization units, creating more community wellness centers, and making partnerships with other organizations hoping to achieve the similar goals. 

Be Well OC also has distinguished the Substance Use Initiative and Suicide Prevention Initiative. Both frameworks hope to increase the prevalence of outreach efforts in the community in order to decrease the number of lives lost due to substance abuse and suicide. Furthermore, the Substance Use Initiative hopes to integrate Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) as a prevention effort and assimilate the organization’s partnership with OC Medication-Assisted Treatment for Youth (OCMAT4Y). Be Well OC’s collaboration with OCMAT4Y works to issue referrals and educational resources to Orange County’s adolescents in need. Additively, the Suicide Prevention Initiative voices the importance of purposefully and intentionally living for survivors, individuals at risk, and their families.

What’s Been Happening 

Since Be Well OC’s implementation, over six hundred youth volunteers have helped the organization spread good, which exceeded their education and prevention outreach volunteer goal. The Orange County Board of Supervisors has also allocated $16 million to Be Well OC in order to successfully combat the prevalence of mental health crises and the resource accessibility issue in Orange County.

“I am very excited that we have a project that has come online and will truly have a positive impact on the quality of life for all those struggling with mental health issues,” said Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Lisa Bartlett.

Additionally, improvements have been noted in clinical outcomes as well as a reduction in emergency room visits in Orange County. However, Be Well OC has the Mobile Response Team (MRT) to thank for this. The Mobile Response Team is composed of two crisis counselors who commute around Orange County. Further, after de-escalation and crisis-intervention strategies are completed counselors follow up the next day, which has led to immense situational and societal appreciation.

The team also addresses simplistic community responsibilities and aids with hygiene product distribution, and public assistance with products like water, food, shelter, and clothing. Some of the more versatile responsibilities being handled include addressing behavioral crises, non-domestic family disputes, intoxication, and suicidal ideation.

The Be Well OC campus has one structure and is expected to have three collectively in the future. Be Well OC has made significant progress on social media, youtube, and around the Orange County community as a whole. Learn more about Be Well OC and their impact below.

Resources:

Linktree: @bewelloc 

Be Well OC Podcast: Hope Happens Here

Non-emergency Mental Health Crisis Line: 714-960-8825

Instagram: @bewelloc

Youtube: Be Well OC