Pine Rest Adds 30 Jobs, New Program
Elizabeth Slowik

CUTLERVILLE — Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services is adding 30 employees to open a new residential treatment program for people with persistent mental illness.

A grand opening is planned for 3 p.m. Tuesday at Pine Rest’s campus at 300 68th St. SE in Cutlerville for the InterActions Residential Treatment Center. The 16-bed secured program is expected to begin serving clients July 21, said Al Jansen, director of corporate and residential services.

The open house will unveil a $1.5 million renovation in a Pine Rest building to accommodate the new program, he said.

“The program is intended for folks who have not been successful in other community settings, residential settings or apartment settings,” Jansen said. “The level of support or intervention required wasn’t able to be met with that setting.”

Referrals will come from Michigan’s community mental health system, and most patients will be funded through Medicaid, he said.

One group of clients is expected to come from state institutions and be in need of in-depth assessments and treatment plans, Jansen said.

“We’re talking about individuals with very complex needs,” he said, such as developmental disabilities, substance use disorders or behavioral problems in addition to a mental illness diagnosis.

The second group will be people who rapidly repeat use of other inpatient facilities with lengths of stay that far exceed the average of 9.9 days, he said.

The staff is undergoing 60 hours of additional training to implement two evidence-based care models in the InterActions program: illness management and recovery, and dialectical behavior therapy for specialized populations. While both models are in use elsewhere in the Pine Rest continuum of care, this is the first time dialectical behavior therapy is being used in a 24/7 residential setting, Jansen said. BJX