Community Support Services
Community Support Services (CSS) provides services to help adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses (SPMI). Our goal is to empower patients to become integrated in their home community and to avoid or reduce inpatient admissions. All of our mental health services are customized to the patient and his/her team in an individualized treatment plan.
The CSS department consists of a number of programs, each specifically designed to support an area of daily living. Learn more about the programs below, or contact us for more information.
Case Management
Case management is a medically necessary, one-on-one program. Treatment is based on the strengths and needs of the individual. Most case management services are provided in the person’s home or community. We offer Evidenced-Based Practices, Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment (IDDT) and Strengths-Based Case Management at specific locations.
Care Coordination
Comprehensive care for adults with a mental illness may sometimes become complex, as it involves mental health providers, physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians, dentists, eye care specialists, clergy, transportation workers and more. Coordinators integrate all these aspects of care, acting as an information exchange to enable all health care partners to work together.
Care coordinators work with patients, their families, and other service providers to access resources needed to sustain recovery. While Care Coordinators do not provide direct care, they may:
- Work in partnership with a patient and an assigned case manager to develop a treatment plan.
- Assist the patient and family in identifying needed resources, including social services, educational opportunities, housing and employment resources, transportation, and medical services.
- Assist with necessary paperwork or applications.
- Advocate for patients by helping them obtain access to needed resources and services.
Attendant Care
Attendant Care for adult patients is a one-on-one service to assist individuals with functional independence in natural community settings of their choice.
Attendant Care services enable patients to accomplish tasks or engage in activities they would normally perform themselves if they did not have a mental illness. Assistance is most often in the form of direct support, supervision and/or cueing so that the patient learns to perform certain tasks on their own.
Employment Education Support (EES)
The EES program follows an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model of evidence-based practices for supported employment. IPS employment helps people with severe mental illness work at regular jobs of their choosing with individualized support. Specialists focus on each person’s strengths to promote recovery, mental wellness, and employment stability. The EES program works in collaboration with Kansas Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
EES services are committed to helping adults with serious mental illness find competitive employment. People are not excluded based on readiness, diagnoses, symptoms, substance use history, psychiatric hospitalizations, homelessness, level of disability, or legal system involvement. Services are based on each person’s preferences and choices. Employment specialists systematically visit employers, who are selected based on job seeker preferences, to learn about their business needs and hiring practices. These specialists also help people obtain benefits counseling.
SOAR (SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery)
SOAR helps adults who are homeless, or in danger of becoming homeless, to apply for SSI/SSDI – which generally provides health insurance and income.
Adults with serious mental illness who are homeless frequently have cognitive difficulties that impede their ability to provide necessary application information. They may not remember having medical problems, may lack the ability or information to communicate clearly about them, or (as in the case of mental illness), may deny the presence of illness. SOAR utilizes a comprehensive approach that includes SSI/SSDI application training for community and hospital staff to ensure that approved individuals receive health insurance, treatment, and other services to begin their recovery.
Peer Support
Peer support services are recovery focused and designed to promote skills for coping with and managing symptoms of mental illness while facilitating the use of available resources and the enhancement of community living skills. Peer support can be provided one-on-one or in a group setting.
The services provided by peer support specialists emphasize communal support and the expansion of skills and strategies necessary for recovery. Services are provided by a specialist, who has also experienced a psychiatric diagnosis at some time in his/her life, and has completed certified training to promote recovery.
Shared Living
The Shared Living program provides a safe, affordable environment where patients can have housing, learn independent living skills, and receive assistance with medication compliance. Each residence is completely furnished with cooking supplies, furniture, linens, and appliances. While at Shared Living, each patient is responsible for minimal rent, food, medications, and personal items.
Interim Housing
Interim Housing provides a secure, temporary living environment for patients who are currently in a housing crisis. Patients receive support and assistance in locating affordable, appropriate housing and re-establishing services in the community.
Clubhouse Programs
“Clubhouse” is a psychosocial rehabilitative model designed to help adults with a severe and persistent mental illness reintegrate into the community. The clubhouse model differs from traditional day treatment programs because participants, considered members, work alongside staff in a work-ordered day. Members are able to work on goals that they have established for themselves as they work towards their personal mental health recovery.