Accessing services...sometimes the most difficult thing to do in the public mental health system.
Several decades ago, Michigan put in place the community mental health system. Since this time, the system has dramatically changed. Today, it is one of the most complicated systems for people to access...in part because there is no uniformity from county to county across the state. Shiawassee County Community Mental Health desires that accessing mental health services be easy for those in our community.
Please note that public mental health primarily serves adults with a severe mental illness, children with a severe emotional disturbance, persons with a developmental disability, and/or those having a co-occurring disorder that are enrolled in the Medicaid system. Depending on the resources available, people without medical coverage and those with private insurance may also be eligible for services.
Due to the population that community mental health serves, the services are primarily community-based. That being said, outpatient therapy is provided to those whose severity of symptoms are less.
The intake system for community mental health isn't uniform around the state; therefore, depending on your county the process is different. In Shiawassee County, residents only need to call and request services Monday - Friday from 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. Other service professionals involved with the person requiring treatment can also complete a "provider intake". Callers will be transferred to the intake staff. It is important to note that our intake function is delegated to Access Alliance of Michigan, a division of Bay-Arenac Behavioral Health...one of our partners. Therefore, the intake staff is actually off site. That being said, people requiring treatment are still able to come into our main office during business hours for assistance. The emergency services staff are available to help with this process.
During the telephone intake, the staff will determine eligibility from residency to mental health status to insurance type. If eligibility is met, callers are transferred to our receptionist to schedule a face-to-face assessment. If eligibility isn't met, intake staff should be providing additional resources and education so callers are able to obtain the assistance needed.
Callers with a Medicaid Health Plan, and don't have a severe mentally illness, severe emotional disturbance or developmental disability, will be referred to the health plan for services. The Medicaid Health Plans offer up to 20 outpatient visits each year. Intake staff are able to provide callers with contact information.
Severe mental illness, severe emotional disturbance and developmental disability are defined. during the intake process, staff can help determine if symptoms meet any of these definitions.
Community mental health offers many different services to assist one in the journey of recovery and habilitation. Services are provided to people of all ages. It is our desire to see that the residents of Shiawassee County obtain the assistance needed without barriers. If problems occur during the referral process, please contact our Customer Service representative.
For some people with mild or moderate mental health problems the current system in Michigan is broken and it's too easy for people to fall between the cracks of medicaid health plans. One of my personal goals as we take on healtcare reform is to bring the funding for mental health services into one coordinated system. That way anyone that comes to our front door would be eligible for services.
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