Rescue Mental Health & Addiction Services was founded in 1966 by members of the Lucas County religious and social services communities to meet the need for a 24-hour hotline for those experiencing an emotional crisis. Father Frank Crawford is regarded as Rescue’s founder and served as the first volunteer to staff the hotline.
During 1980 and 1981, the United Way and the Lucas County Mental Health Board identified the need for comprehensive and centralized emergency services for the severely mentally disabled, understanding that this population desperately needed not only emergency services but substantial resources as well.
In 1982, Rescue was designated as the focal point of the centralized emergency services, providing a hotline, short-term crisis counseling services, and a six-bed crisis support unit.
In 1983, the Lucas County Mental Health Board selected Rescue as the single point of entry into the mental health system for all mental health emergencies. That included responding to the needs of the criminal justice system, which found itself overburdened with helping the disenfranchised mentally ill.
In 1985, Rescue received a federal block grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, and in January 1986, began operating as a comprehensive emergency mental health service provider for Lucas County. Rescue provided pre-hospitalization screening and assessment and Crisis Services.
In January 1997, Rescue began providing crisis intervention, diagnostic assessment, individual and group counseling, pharmacological management, and residential crisis stabilization to children and adolescents.
In 2006, Rescue introduced two new programs:
- Central Access—a central point for assessment and referral to ongoing community mental health services.
- Community Based Stabilization program—assisted clients in avoiding hospitalization and maintaining stability in home settings. Community Based Stabilization staff members were licensed professionals, nurses, and peer staff with personal histories of mental illness.