Mental Health Skill Building

Support Systems, Inc. provides mental health services for adults who suffer from serious mental, behavioral or emotional illness that results in significant functional impairments in major life activities.  Training and supports are provided to enable individuals to achieve and maintain community stability and independence in the most appropriate, least restrictive environment.  Skill building services are rehabilitative in nature and help individuals to acquire and maintain the greatest levels of independence possible through training in areas such as daily living skills, health and safety, appropriate behavior, use of community resources, medication management, and self-monitoring of personal health, nutrition and physical condition.

Services are provided by a minimum of a Qualified Mental Health Professional, with a combination of a bachelors level education and one or more years of experience in the field of mental health services.  Supervision is ongoing both by a monthly written supervision and daily interaction with supervisors.   Licensed Mental Health Professionals shall provide ongoing assessment, quarterly ISP reviews, documentation of continued need of services, coordination of services and overall clinical supervision.

Skill Building Services shall include:

Goal directed training in the areas of daily living, money management, medication management, accessing community resources, appropriate use of social skills/personal support systems and decreasing isolative behavior, symptom recognition and management, personal hygiene/health and safety, food preparation, and adherence to psychiatric and medical treatment plans.  

To be eligible for Mental Health Skill Building Services individuals must:

Demonstrate a clinical need for the service arising from a condition due to mental, behavioral, or emotional illness, which results in significant functional impairments in major life activities. The individual must be best served in the community and must meet all of the following criteria:

1. Individual shall have a primary Axis I DSM diagnosis as discussed above;

2. Individual shall require individualized training in acquiring basic living skills such as described above;

3. Individual shall have a prior history of any of the following:

         a.  Psychiatric hospitalization

b.  Residential Crisis Stabilization

c.  Intensive Community Treatment (ICT)

d.  Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT)

e.  Placement in a psychiatric residential treatment facility

f.  Temporary Detention Order (TDO)

      4.  Individual shall have had a prescription for anti-psychotic, mood stabilizing, 

    or anti-depressant medications within the 12 months prior to the 

    Assessment date.