COLUMBIA, MD — The New Beginnings Crisis Stabilization facility at 6700 Freetown Rd, will open its doors today as part of Howard County's opioid intervention strategy. The facility is designed to meet immediate people's needs for assessment, treatment, referrals and brief overnight housing and food. The project has been made possible thanks to a $1 million state opioid response grant from the Maryland Department of Health.

"Howard County is seeing progress on the fight against opioid related addiction, overdoses, and fatalities," said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. "This year we are seeing a 42 percent decrease in opioid related fatalities and a 14 percent decrease in non-fatal overdoses as compared to last year. This success is built on the partnerships and engagement from the Howard County government and non-profits such as Grassroots. As we work toward fostering the best quality of life for our residents, we will continue to make progress on combating opioid use and overdose with the New Beginnings Crisis Stabilization Facility."



Crisis stabilization is an essential service to provide so that individuals in need of a referral for substance use disorder treatment can receive immediate screening and intervention services so that they do not experience a delay in entry into residential or outpatient treatment. The period between referral and admission can result in a return to use, overdose or the individual may need to seek services at an emergency department, which is what crisis services aims to avoid.



