Description | Signs and Symptoms | General Eligibility
How to Apply | Cost | Additional Help | Contact

Description

The Adult Mental Health System is part of the Adult Community Services Division. (More information on children's mental health services.) Services are provided through contracts with eighteen different private non-profit agencies. Most of the services are for persons who have a serious and persistent mental illness, however, anyone who is indigent and in need of ongoing or situational mental health services is eligible to receive services. Additionally, an array of comprehensive services is provided to people who have the most serious and persistent mental illnesses. In most instances these services are for persons who have psychotic disorders requiring services not available through the private sector.

Vision of Recovery

The focus of the mental health system is on Recovery. This means accepting the realities of illness while focusing on LIFE. As noted in the Final Report of The Blue Ribbon Commission on Mental Health, the basic recovery-oriented principles that need to be incorporated into all aspects of service delivery include:

• Recovery is possible, i.e., a meaningful life is possible despite catastrophic illness, and despite limitations of systems and symptoms. Services are delivered with a hopeful attitude toward growth, positive experiences and successes. Multiple sources and methods of providing motivation and hope must be present at every level of the mental health system.
• Mental health consumers must be welcomed partners in their care, in assuming a significant degree of control in the development of their treatment plan and in determining the goals toward which they choose to work.
• A "Just Start Anywhere" mode of consumer action must be fostered. Recovery does not have one starting point, or one destination: the goal is to just start moving forward in any area, in any increment. Both staff and consumers must recognize that there are as many paths to healing as there are paths to illness.
• A broad range of consumer run services is promoted.
• Meaningful work/educational activities are valued and worked toward.
• Service providers must encourage and facilitate an increase in consumers' abilities to self manage disorders in ways that are meaningful to the individual consumer.
• Use of community resources should be encouraged.
• Staff must be empowered and encouraged to be flexible in the delivery of services.
• Mental health consumers want what everybody else wants. They want a home and loved ones, and to continue to grow as they age. They want their lives to have meaning. They do not want to die, never having lived.
• A recovery-oriented mental health system moves beyond the focus of surviving and develops the focus of thriving.

Signs and Symptoms

National Alliance on Mental Illness This portion of their web site provides factual information regarding the symptoms and treatment of a number of mental illnesses.

National Alliance on Mental Illness - Dane County This web site provides facts about mental illness including a brief overview of some of the symptoms for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe depression. Brochures and pamphlets may be obtained at their office.

National Institute of Mental Health This web site provides information about the signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment for a variety of mental illnesses.

General Eligibility

• Dane County Resident
• Age 18 and older
• No health insurance or ability to pay for services

Additional guidelines apply to select services. Persons with health insurance should contact their insurance provider directly for a list of accepted providers and any necessary referrals.

How to Apply

Service access is difficult as all of the programs are operating at capacity and have waiting lists of varying lengths of time.

For general information, please call the New Directions Information Center (608) 280-2674.
For mental health emergencies, please call the 24-hour emergency phone line at (608) 280-2600. If the emergency is life-threatening, please call 911.

The following programs can be contacted directly depending upon the type of service that is being considered:

Crisis Intervention: 24-hour mental health crisis line: (608) 280-2600. This is provided through the Emergency Services Unit at the Mental Health Center of Dane County. This is also the number to call if psychiatric inpatient treatment is being explored on a voluntary or involuntary basis.

Crisis Stabilization: (608) 280-2600. This program provides a wide array of services aimed at assisting Dane County residents in becoming and remaining stable in the community, in lieu of hospitalization or other institutional placement. Services offered include short-term stays at Crisis Homes or Recovery House, a four-bed stabilization facility. Additionally, the program employs over 35 mental health aides (MHAs), many of whom are mental health consumers. MHAs assist individuals with support, structure, transportation, medication monitoring and short-term case management. In addition, the crisis stabilization program coordinates stabilization services provided by a number of other community agencies throughout Dane County.

Psychotropics, Limited Case Management & Brief Psychotherapy: call (608) 280-2710. This is the Central Intake unit at the Mental Health Center of Dane County. Please be aware that these programs are operating at capacity and have waiting lists; if the person is in an imminent crisis, the referral would be made to the Emergency Services Unit, (608) 280-2600.

Brief Individual Psychotherapy: There are three other agencies under contract to provide this service as well. Please call them directly.

• Lutheran Social Services: (608) 277-2966
• Catholic Charities: (608) 256-2358
• Family Service: (608) 252-1325

Group therapy: call Robyn Davis at Catholic Charities: (608) 256-2358. Robyn is the program coordinator of the FACE (Four Agency Cooperative Effort) program. All of the above agencies participate in this project.

Mental Health Community Case Management: (608) 280-2674 New Directions Information Center (NDIC) processes requests for case management services and provides callers with information regarding both the public and private systems. This service is in high demand and the waiting list is managed on a prioritized basis. Individuals who meet priority criteria will be referred to the ACCESS committee - this committee matches prioritized persons with available openings. When openings are available, persons are referred to these services:

• SOAR Case Management
• Community Intervention Team (CIT)- A program of Tellurian UCAN

Community Support Programs: call Brad Schlough at the Mental Health Center of Dane County (608) 280-3166 OR the PACT program (608) 261-2567 regarding eligibility and referral information. Community Support Programs (CSPs) are certified by the state under HFS-63. They provide the comprehensive and staff outreach services to people living in the community. Almost all of the services (medications, case management, work services, counseling, activities of daily living, ongoing problem solving, etc.) are provided through interdisciplinary teams within these programs. All people being considered for treatment in these programs must have a serious and persistent mental illness.

Non-Traditional Services:

• Yahara House: (608) 280-4700. This is a service based on the clubhouse model. It is a program of the Mental Health Center of Dane County.
• Off the Square Club: (608) 251-6901. This is a drop-in day club. It is a program of Lutheran Social Services
• Kajsiab House*: (608)280-4769. Kajsiab House was developed for the Hmong community, as a place in which families can be safe, express and experience their culture, as well as increase their understanding and the ability to live successfully within an American cultural context.
• Southeast Asian Outreach*: (608) 280-2560. Services designed to make mental health services more accessible and acceptable to Southeast Asian individuals and families in Dane County

* Kajsiab House and Southeast Asian Outreach are both programs of the Mental Health Center of Dane County

Work Services or supported employment is provided through all of the comprehensive programs such as the Community Support Programs and at Yahara House. Additionally, the following programs have been established to primarily provide work services. They can be contacted directly.

• Chrysalis: (608) 256-3102
• Opportunities, Inc.: (608) 274-8060
• Work Plus: (608) 238-6018

Homeless/Housing Services:

• CHARM: (608) 221-8443
• Housing Initiatives: (608) 277-8330
• Porchlight: (608) 257-2534
• Transitional Housing Program (Tellurian UCAN): (608) 222-7311
• YWCA: (608) 257-1436

Supportive Living Services are provided on a limited basis. These living arrangements vary according to the amount of staff presence, from a 24-hour a day involvement to just having a resident manager within the building. Referrals are prioritized based on mental health needs and histories. Applicants must be currently involved in publicly funded mental health services.
Call CHARM (Community Housing & Resource Managers) at (608) 221-8443 for referrals pertaining to most of the CBRF's, Adult Family Homes, Boarding Homes, and individual living arrangements.

Cost

Most mental health services are provided on a sliding fee scale. Individuals with limited income and assets will pay little or no fee. When people have health insurance, their insurance company is billed for covered services. The State of Wisconsin's Uniform Fee Schedule is used for many services, and is available at http://dhfs.wisconsin.gov/bfs/UniformFee/index.htm.

Additional Help

Related Resources

2-1-1 Information and Referral Database - This link is to the United Way of Dane County's searchable Information and Referral database. This can provide assistance in looking for resources for food, housing, and more.

New Directions Information Center - (608) 280-2674. This is a consumer operated information service that assists individuals through the Dane County mental health and substance abuse service systems.

Social Security Administration - This is the federal government's web site regarding Social Security, Social Security Disability, and Supplemental Security Income Programs.

Mental Health Resources

Gift From Within - a non-profit organization dedicated to those who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those at risk for PTSD, and those who care for traumatized individuals. We have free educational webcasts, articles, poetry and art meditations, A-V materials, book reviews, DVD's and tapes, Q&A on PTSD, and other educational materials and resources.

National Alliance on Mental Illness - This web site provides resources to inform yourself about mental illness, to find support, and to take action.

National Alliance on Mental Illness - Dane County - This link is to the guide to resources for consumers of mental health services and their families in Dane County.

New Directions Information Center - (608) 280-2674. This is a consumer operated information service that assists individuals through the Dane County mental health and substance abuse service systems.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - This web site provides mental health information for individuals, families, and the general public.

Contact

Mary Grabot
Community Services Manager - Adult Mental Health
Dane County Department of Human Services
1202 Northport Drive/3rd floor
Madison, WI 53704
(608) 242-6484
grabot@co.dane.wi.us

Last Revised: July 9, 2008