Patient Care

The Outpatient Mental Health Program: This program was established in 1955. The program provides individual, group and family counseling to children and adults, many of whom are referrals from state and local psychiatric units, and/or clients who make frequent use of Crisis services. The array of services provided includes psychiatric assessment, medication evaluation and monitoring, psycho-social assessment, counseling for support and symptom management, psycho-education, case coordination and advocacy.

The Partial Care/Gateway Program: This program was established in 1978. It provides a structured, vocationally-oriented therapeutic day treatment program for seriously mentally ill clients, most of whom have been hospitalized in state psychiatric hospitals and/or local inpatient units, and many of whom are MICA (mentally ill chemical abuse) clients.

A specialized MICA Intensive Track program is offered within Partial Care that provides an intensive 12-week program designed to provide assessment, education, and counseling services to meet the special needs of clients with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problems.

All Partial Care services are delivered by a multi-disciplinary team including a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, vocational/ employment specialists, social workers and counselors. All work with the client to develop an individualized service plan. The psychiatrist and the nurse work with clients to evaluate and monitor their medication needs and to educate clients as to medication effectiveness and possible side effects.

Crisis Intervention: Emergency Services/Screening/Family Crisis: This Unit was established in 1984. It operates 24 hours/day with both on-site and mobile capability for those clients in the community experiencing a mental health crisis, many of whom also have a substance abuse problem. The team provides screening services to clients both in the Family Guidance Center office sites and in the community as needed. The team also works with families and systems to stabilize situations, to facilitate voluntary hospitalization and utilization of other community-based services, to provide psycho-education to families and clients about mental illness and how to cope with an ill family member, and to provide referral and systems advocacy services. The Family Court component works with youth and families to provide immediate services so that family problems (e.g., truancy, runaway behavior) can be worked on in such a manner so as to avoid court involvement.

The Substance Abuse Treatment Program: This program was established in 1982. The program provides outpatient assessment and counseling services to adults and youth who are abusing substances. Whether counseling services are provided in an individual or a group setting, all counseling emphasizes family involvement and utilization of 12-step groups in the community in order to prevent relapse and maintain a drug-free lifestyle. Clients may be self-referred or referred from the Court system.

The MICA Treatment Program: This program was established in 1989. The program is specifically designed to deal with clients who struggle with both mental illness and substance abuse. Most of the clients in the MICA (mentally ill chemical abuse) program are seriously mentally ill and many are involved with the justice system. Services provided include psycho-social assessment, psychiatric assessment, medication evaluation and monitoring, drug screening, counseling to support a drug-free lifestyle and for relapse prevention, education about substance abuse, case coordination, advocacy and referral to self-help groups in the community (including two Double Trouble and Relapse meetings held at the Better Future Self-Help Center each week). Emphasis is placed on involving families in treatment in order to support clients' efforts to maintain a drug-free life. The program also provides assessment and counseling (individual and group) services to MICA inmates at the county Jail where most inmates are successfully linked with treatment and self-help services upon release.

The Sexual Abuse Treatment (SAT) Program: This program was established in 1983. The program provides specialized counseling for child victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse and their families. Staff coordinate treatment services with the state DYFS staff and with the county's Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) headed by the Prosecutor's office.

Mental Health Services to the County Office on Aging: This service was funded beginning in 1996. This provides for a staff therapist, who is also a registered nurse, to work with the Office on Aging outreach staff, providing them with supervision and consultation on mental health issues. This staff person also makes home visits to specified elderly in the community in order to provide assessments, referrals, and therapeutic interventions with the elderly and their families.

Mental Health Services to Public Schools: The Center has contracts with several schools within the county to provide mental health counseling and assessments to students identified as having mental health/behavioral problems affecting their school performance.