Intensive outpatient treatment programs are clearly identified as separate and distinct programs that provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services. The intensive outpatient program consists of a scheduled series of sessions appropriate to the person-centered plans of the persons served. These may include services provided during evenings and on weekends and/or interventions delivered by a variety of service providers in the community. The program may function as a step-down program from partial hospitalization, detoxification/withdrawal support, or residential services; may be used to prevent or minimize the need for a more intensive level of treatment; and is considered to be more intensive than traditional outpatient services.
Outpatient treatment programs provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services that include, but are not limited to, individual, group, and family counseling and education on wellness, recovery, and resiliency. These programs offer comprehensive, coordinated, and defined services that may vary in level of intensity. Outpatient programs may address a variety of needs, including, but not limited to, situational stressors, family relations, interpersonal relationships, mental health issues, life span issues, psychiatric illnesses, and substance use disorders and other addictive behaviors.
Based on the needs of the persons served, the outpatient program offers or refers to a variety of service modalities that are designed to assist the persons served to achieve their goals related to psychological or social functioning, self-esteem, and coping abilities or to external opportunities such as vocational, educational, or social.
Partial hospitalization programs are time limited, medically supervised programs that offer comprehensive, therapeutically intensive, coordinated, and structured clinical services. Partial hospitalization programs are available at least five days per week but may also offer half-day, weekend, or evening hours. Partial hospitalization programs may be freestanding or part of a broader system but should be identifiable as a distinct program or service line.
A partial hospitalization program consists of a series of structured, face-to-face therapeutic sessions organized at various levels of intensity and frequency. Partial hospitalization programs are typically designed for persons who are experiencing increased symptomatology, disturbances in behavior, or other conditions that negatively impact the mental or behavioral health of the person served. The program must be able to address the presenting problems in a setting that is not residential or inpatient. Given this, the persons served in partial hospitalization do not pose an immediate risk to themselves or others. Services are provided for the purpose of diagnostic evaluation; active treatment of a person’s condition; or to prevent relapse, hospitalization, or incarceration. Such a program functions as an alternative to inpatient care, as transitional care following an inpatient stay in lieu of continued hospitalization, as a step-down service, or when the severity of symptoms is such that success in a less acute level of care is tenuous.
Although the program is capable of providing a multidisciplinary program of medical and therapeutic services to the persons served three hours per day, five days per week, individualized plans and variable lengths of stay will determine the degree to which each person actually participates in a given week.
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is a multidisciplinary team approach that assumes responsibility for directly providing acute, active, and ongoing community-based psychiatric treatment, assertive outreach, rehabilitation, and support. The program team provides assistance to individuals to maximize their recovery, ensure consumer-directed goal setting, assist the persons served to gain hope and a sense of empowerment, and provide assistance in helping the persons served become respected and valued members of their community. The program provides psychosocial services directed primarily to adults with severe and persistent mental illness who often have co-occurring problems, such as substance abuse, or are homeless or involved with the judicial system.
The team is the single point of clinical responsibility and is accountable for assisting the persons served to meet their needs and to achieve their goals for recovery. Multiple members of the team are familiar with each person served to ensure the timely and continuous provision of services. Services are provided on a long-term care basis with continuity of caregivers over time. The majority of services are provided directly by ACT team members, with minimal referral to outside providers, in the natural environment of the person served and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Services are comprehensive and highly individualized and are modified as needed through an ongoing assessment and treatment planning process. Services vary in intensity based on the needs of the persons served.
Assertive Community Treatment has been identified as an effective model for providing community-based services for persons whose needs and goals have not been met through traditional office-based treatment and rehabilitation services. Desired outcomes specific to ACT services may include positive change in the following areas: community tenure, independent living, quality of life, consumer satisfaction of the person served, functioning in work and social domains, community integration, psychological condition, subjective well-being, and the ability of the persons served to manage their own healthcare.
In certain geographic areas, Assertive Community Treatment programs may be called Community Support programs, Intensive Community Treatment programs, Mobile Community Treatment Teams, or Assertive Outreach Teams.
2.a. Staff sufficiency includes plans for backup in case of emergency and planned absences.
2.f. The program ensures that it has available personnel and resources to respond to the needs of the persons served at times that meet their needs
Community integration is designed to help persons to optimize their personal, social, and vocational competency in order to live successfully in the community. Activities are determined by the needs of the persons served. The persons served are active partners in all aspects of these programs. Therefore, the settings can be informal in order to reduce barriers between staff members and program participants. In addition to services provided in the home or community, this program may include a psychosocial clubhouse, a drop-in center, an activity center, or a day program.
Community integration provides opportunities for the community participation of the persons served. The organization defines the scope of these services based on the identified needs and desires of the persons served. A person may participate in a variety of community life experiences that may include, but are not limited to:
The organization demonstrates that a range of basic services is provided. These services could be arranged within a psychosocial clubhouse, an activity center, or a day program, but the common services consist of providing assistance with independent living skills and the other activities described in this standard.
All Dimensions Behavorial Health
4449 Crain Hwy
White Plains, MD 20695
Hours of operation 9-5pm
