Cabarrus County's new behavioral health center brings critical mental health care closer to home

The Stephen M. Morris Behavioral Health Center will provide urgent care, crisis services and residential treatment for children and adults closer to home.

The Stephen M. Morris Behavioral Health Center is named in honor of former Cabarrus County Commissioner and current Concord Mayor Steve Morris, who helped champion the project. Photo credit: Michael Anderson.

For years, children and teenagers in Cabarrus County experiencing a mental health crisis often had few good options.

Many ended up in crowded hospital emergency departments or even jail, settings never intended to provide specialized behavioral health treatment. Others faced hours-long drives across North Carolina because appropriate care simply wasn’t available closer to home.

That is about to change.

The Stephen M. Morris Behavioral Health Center, celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Tuesday, will provide a full continuum of behavioral health services for patients of all ages, with a particular emphasis on children and adolescents.