SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake County organization is assembling a team of mental health professionals to help those with serious diagnoses that impact their life.
The nonprofit First Step House is a behavioral health services provider that offers case management, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and treatment.
In June, First Step House will launch the ACT, or Assertive Community Treatment which consists of nurses, social workers, case managers, a prescriber, peer support specialist, and mental health workers. Those professionals will work with people diagnosed with serious mental illness.
“Ten folks who are actively working with the clients every single day, and then the prescriber and a program assistant who are kind of more in the background coordinating services, and handling the logistics and of course, writing a lot of medication, prescriptions,” said First Step House Mental Health and Housing Services Director Jared Ferguson.
The ACT Team model is commonly called a “hospital without walls.” Many people within this group struggle with a more traditional approach and settings.
This team will work with up to 100 clients who are referred to them from places like Huntsman Mental Health Institute and Utah State Hospital.
“We’re looking to help folks who have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness,” Ferguson said. “You could call that schizophrenia, bipolar or a schizoaffective disorder. There are other conditions that would qualify a person as well.”
Ferguson said many of these people are homeless, may be in treatment in the state hospital or live with family or in group homes.
“One of the things that we’re looking to do is decrease instances of individuals who are unhoused and who are homeless,” he said. “We are looking to decrease legal contacts, police contacts, adverse costs, police contacts, hospitalizations and inpatient stays are really critical, calls to EMS, 911.”
First Step House Executive Director Shawn McMillen said the frequent use of these resources comes at a cost. He said when these individuals cycle in and out of jail, shelters and emergency rooms, it creates problems in our health care and criminal justice systems.
“The social costs, the cost to taxpayers is, about a third, it’s a third to a half, depending on who’s counting or how it’s being counted, of what it would cost to leave someone unsupported in the community and homeless,” McMillen said.
McMillen said the ACT Team is a Medicaid-eligible service. Other needs like household items, clothing, eyeglasses and more will require other funding.
Ferguson said they’ll work with as many clients as they can handle, for as long as that individual needs.
“We can onboard no more than six clients a month, so if you do that math, it’s going to be about a 24 to 26 month period before we’re really up to full strength,” he said. “Once they’re enrolled on an ACT team, we are going to continue to make every attempt possible to bring them to that new level of stability, no matter how long it takes.”
Ferguson said individuals will be asked to make contact with the team multiple times a week.
First Step House’s ACT Team still needs to get a sixth vehicle for its fleet. The other vehicles were sponsored by local organizations and businesses. They are in the process of hiring team members.
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