Administrative Case Management
All consumers who are actively involved with the Northampton County Mental Health Program initially receive this level of care. Consumers will continue at this level throughout the time their cases are active with us, unless we find they require a higher level of care known as targeted case management. Administrative case management services are designed to first provide an initial assessment and determination of eligibility for other mental health programs. Once this is determined, initial and ongoing service planning will occur which will result in linkages to selected services, authorization of these services, monitoring of services received, and outreach from the assigned Administrative Case Manager.
Targeted Case Management
Targeted case management refers to programs that provide intensive and goal-directed case management services to adults with serious and persistent mental illness. Services are targeted for those persons for whom traditional community mental health services alone have not been effective. This may include persons who have not achieved and maintained health and stability in the community and persons who, without these services, would continue to experience hospitalization, incarceration and/or homelessness). Caseloads are much smaller and regular face-to-face contact is required.
Northampton County funds intensive case management services and blended case management services for adults. The blended program allows a person to continue to receive case management services from the same worker even though the frequency of contacts fluctuate. In order to provide intensive case management services and blended case management services to adults, contracts are held with community vendors including Northwestern Human Services, Holcomb Behavioral Health, Resources for Human Development and Salisbury Behavioral Health.
Targeted case managers assist consumers in linking up to community and provider resources. These programs provide assistance to consumers in identifying, accessing, and learning to use community resources in meeting treatment/service plan objectives. These units also maintain emergency on-call services twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. Services are guided by the principle that adults with serious mental illness can recover and live successfully in their communities when individualized services and supports are provided. Referrals for targeted case management services must be made through our regular intake process (via the consumer’s assigned Administrative Case Manager) if an individual does not have Magellan Behavioral Health services.
Assertive Community Treatment Teams
Our most intensive outpatient case management and treatment services are offered by our Assertive Act Community Treatment Teams (sometimes referred to as community teams, and CHIPPS teams). These services were developed as part of our Community/Hospital Integration Projects Program (CHIPP) specifically to serve those individuals coming out of Allentown State Hospital and to divert others from needing long term hospital level care. These programs offer ICM level case management plus other team-delivered treatment and support services including emergency on-call services twenty-four hours per day, seven day per week, and the capacity for daily medication monitoring. Northwestern Human Services, Salisbury Behavioral Health and Resources for Human Development are the providers for these programs.
As is the case with our other targeted case management programs, ACT services are targeted for those persons for whom traditional community mental health services alone have not been effective. This includes persons who have not achieved and maintained health and stability in the community and persons who, without these services, would continue to experience hospitalization, incarceration and/or homelessness. Referrals for ACT/CHIPPS team services must be made through our regular intake process (via the consumer’s assigned Administrative Case Manager).
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services: (Program Based and Mobile)
Staff in these programs provide skills, training, support, and education to assist consumers so that they can achieve successful community living. Site-based services are provided at a supported apartment site managed by Salisbury Behavioral Health. Mobile services are provided by Step-by-Step at scattered independent living sites. They involve the provision of services at the residences of consumers. Haven House provides a non-residential site based program at their facility which is co-located with their outpatient program. Referrals for these programs are made through the County program if an individual does not have Magellan Behavioral Health services.