CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- 1 in 5 children may experience a mental health crisis and often finding emergency care in North Carolina for them can take hours, if not days.

One facility aims to change that.

North Carolina's first youth mental health crisis center held a ribbon cutting Wednesday.

The 24/7 SECU Youth Crisis Center has 16 inpatient beds for kids ages six to 17.

The program run by Monarch is a short term solution for kids suffering a mental health crisis which could involve them threatening suicide or threatening to hurt other people.

"We're a lot more focused. Our ratio is smaller. We are able to see progress or make some changes to get to progress a lot faster," said Monarch Executive VP Blake Martin.

The Charlotte crisis center is one of a number of youth crisis centers opening across the state.