Fiscal Year 2004 Proposed Budget

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DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES
CLIENT SERVICES ENTRY

PROGRAM MISSION: To ensure individuals entering Behavioral Healthcare services receive timely and comprehensive assessment, evaluation and linkage to appropriate services.

• Emergency Services provides emergency mental health services to any individual experiencing an acute psychiatric/psychological crisis. The goals of the service are to prevent the escalation of mental health crises, relieve the immediate distress of individuals in crisis, prevent individualsfrom doing harm to themselves or others, and make appropriate referrals for both medical and non-medical interventions for those with more ongoing needs. The Emergency Services Program also provides mental health assessment, crisis intervention, stabilization, support, short-term counseling, emergency medication and psychiatric services, follow-up services, and Critical Incident Stress Management services. In addition, pre-admission screening is also provided for individuals who require residential crisis stabilization at CARE facility. Emergency services is mandated under the Code of Virginia, 37.1-67.

• Discharge Planning Services are provided to consumers in the state psychiatric hospitals and the Adult Detention Facility (ADF). These services ensure access to needed community mental health and dual diagnosis services for individuals in state hospitals and the ADF who are ready for community placement by conducting comprehensive assessments to determine the type and intensity of aftercare services needed. Discharge Planning services are provided for consumers leaving Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, Central State Hospital and Western State Hospital as well as the ADF. (Senior Adult Mental Health Services began providing discharge planning to geriatric patients at Eastern State Hospital on 5/1/02.) Many of the mental health consumers in the ADF have returned to the facility after forensic evaluations at Western State Hospital. They are then discharged to the community with a variety of psychiatric needs that require careful coordination by the jail discharge planner. Consumers who receive discharge planning services in the ADF are seriously mentally ill or dually diagnosed, plan to live in Arlington County, and are slated to leave the facility within 90 days of assessment by the discharge planner.

• DAP (Discharge Assistance and Diversion Project) is a state-funded regional initiative that is divided into several program areas to facilitate patient reductions within the state hospital system. The level of services provided depends on the needs of the consumers, and ranges from a highly specialized group home to intensive supported living services. All DAP consumers must be persons leaving state psychiatric hospitals. All decisions for the utilization of these funds are made through a regional workgroup composed of mental health leadership in Arlington, Prince William, Loudoun, and Fairfax Counties and the City of Alexandria. Another component of the DAP initiative is state hospital diversion funding. This includes private bed purchase, via state contract, at local psychiatric hospitals to divert consumers from state hospital beds. This component also provides short-term funds (e.g., rental assistance) to consumers who require financial assistance that will facilitate their discharge from a local or state hospital bed.

• Homeless Case Management Services seek to efficiently assess and link homeless, seriously mentally ill and substance abusing adults to appropriate mental health and substance abuse services as well as appropriate housing resources. Services are provided to individuals with substance abuse disorders and/or mental illness who are residents of Arlington.

• Transition Team Services provides assessment and short term case management, medical and counseling services to adults either prior to linking to long-term Behavioral Healthcare services or to other more appropriate services elsewhere. This new service is currently under design and reorganization. Performance measures are under development.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

Emergency Services Objective: To ensure that Arlington residents receive timely, comprehensive and expert assessments in order to determine risk for harm to self or to others and need for hospitalization.

Discharge Planning Objective: To maximize opportunities for timely access to needed community mental health services for consumers in state psychiatric hospitals and the Adult Detention Facility (ADF), who are ready for community placement by evaluating and assessing clients regularly to determine the intensity of mental health treatment needed.

• Total consumers served in Discharge Planning in state hospitals represents consumers discharged from Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute and Western State Hospital.

Discharge Assistance and Diversion Project Objective (DAP): To facilitate the community tenure of regional mental health consumers coming from long-term State hospital stays into intensive community-based residential services, as evidenced by a 95 percent reduction in state hospital utilization by these consumers.

Homeless Case Management Objective: To efficiently assess and link homeless, seriously mentally ill adults and adults with substance dependence to appropriate mental health and substance abuse services as well as appropriate housing resources.

Proposed Budget Contents | Section H Contents | Behavioral Healthcare Contents