Services / Programs

ACCESS-West Philly works to improve the quality of life for chronically homeless people in Philadelphia who have both a severe mental illness and an addiction. Outreach workers attempt to engage people who are homeless with the goal of encouraging them to visit the ACCESS offices in West Philadelphia. There, other program staff are available to assist them as they learn how to take advantage of opportunities available to people through various public systems. ACCESS offers case-management, psychiatric and psychological, supportive housing and other services.

ACCESS-West Philly
5070 Parkside Avenue
Suite 2300
Philadelphia, PA 19131
215-477-8061
Program Manager: Brooke Crowley

ACT NOW (Advocacy Consumer Training for New Opportunities to Work) assists people with mental illnesses who want to find a job. It provides a three-week training course followed by a 12-week internship designed to lead to full-time employment. The training course includes information and instruction on how to search for a job, write a resume, take and give directions, make decisions, communicate appropriately, listen effectively and prepare for an internship. The program also provides intensive support during the interviews and throughout the internship.

ACT NOW
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 237
Program Manager: John Jackson

Bucks County Compeer arranges one-on-one matches between adults learning to cope with a mental illness who live in Bucks County with volunteers of the same sex and of similar age who share common interests and live nearby. The two spend at least four hours a month together participating in social and recreational activities. The goal is to promote recovery by providing adults with severe mental illnesses with friends who can help them overcome fear, isolation and loneliness.

Bucks County Compeer
10 Canal Street, Suite 230
Bristol, PA 19007
215-785-2825
Program Manager: Julie Pulvers

Chester County Compeer arranges one-on-one matches between adults in Chester County, PA who have a mental illness, and area volunteers of the same sex and similar age and who have similar interests. The two spend at least four hours a month together participating in social and recreational activities. The goal is to promote recovery by providing adults with severe mental illnesses with friends who can help them overcome fear, isolation and loneliness.

Chester County Compeer
825 Paoli Pike, 3rd Floor, Mailbox #7
West Chester, PA 19380-4525
610-436-4445
Director: Rob Chisholm

Compeer in Philadelphia, formerly known as Community Companion, arranges one-on-one matches between adults learning to cope with a mental illness who live in Philadelphia with volunteers of the same sex and of similar age who share common interests and live nearby. The two spend at least four hours a month together participating in social and recreational activities. The goal is to promote recovery by providing adults with severe mental illnesses with friends who can help them overcome fear, isolation and loneliness.

Compeer/Community Companion
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 269
Program Manager: Sarah Nathan

The three CONNECT programs (CONNECT, CONNECT-BY-NIGHT and CONNECT-TO-PERMANENCY) work with people who are homeless and operate on the assumption that most of them have a mental illness. About 80 percent of the people served by the CONNECT programs are dually diagnosed with both a mental illness and a substance abuse problem. Read more about the CONNECT programs.

CONNECT and CONNECT-TO-PERMANENCY
133-35 Long Lane
Upper Darby, PA 19082
610-352-1590

Community Support Programs (CSP) of PA Technical Assistance is a loosely organized coalition of people across Pennsylvania involved in working to improve treatment and support services in the community for people with serious mental illnesses. Members of this coalition are consumers of behavioral health services, family members and professionals. The CSP of PA Technical Assistance office at MHASP provides education, training, consultation, planning and advocacy services to this coalition. Its goal is to help the coalition work as effectively as possible in assisting adults with serious mental illnesses to live successfully in the community.

Community Support Programs of PA Technical Assistance
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 227
Director: Jim McCormack

Consumer Centers offer people with serious mental illnesses a warm and friendly place to "drop in," meet other people and participate in social, educational and vocational activities. Many of the staff members themselves are consumers of behavioral health services and are especially sensitive to the needs of people who are homeless or who have fallen through the cracks of the traditional mental health system, often because they have had similar experiences themselves. Center hours vary and it is always a good idea to call and confirm operating times. Check the list of consumer centers.

Advocacy Program staff hold group meetings where they provide people with severe mental illnesses with information about mental health services and how to use them. Community Advocacy Project staff members also work individually with consumers of mental health services who need assistance in dealing with the mental health system.

 Advocacy Program
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800

The Friends Connection assists people who have both a mental illness and substance abuse problem by matching them with supportive staff members who accompany them as they learn how to participate in meaningful social and recreational activities. The staff members are known as peers because they are recovering from the same disorders as the people served by the program. The program is based on the belief that people with mental illnesses become involved with drugs and alcohol because they are lonely, bored and isolated from others due to the stigma that surrounds their illness. Program participants must be referred by an intensive case manager.

Friends Connection Philadelphia
520 North Delaware Avenue
Suite 200
Philadelphia. PA 19122
215-599-4011
Program Manager: Carol Holmes

Friends Connection Montgomery County
700 East Main Street
Norristown, PA 19401
610-292-9922
Program Manager: Beth Higgins

Halfway There (formerly known as Montgomery County Supportive Housing Program) provides housing and case-management services to homeless people in Montgomery County who have a mental illness. The program also includes training in the basic skills needed to manage a home.

Halfway There
538 DeKalb Street
Norristown, PA 19401
610-272-8067
Program Manager: Eileen Davenport

Homeward Bound is a residence for homeless people with severe mental illnesses. It has been especially successful in serving people who have been turned away from shelters and traditional mental health residential programs because of their inability to adapt to a more structured environment. Homeward Bound has staff on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Many staff members are former residents.

Homeward Bound
1305 East Oak Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19126
215-276-3300
Program Manager: William Kaiser

Information and Referral staff responds to questions from callers seeking information about services or other behavioral health issues. Staff members direct callers to the most appropriate service or resource agency, provide a sympathetic response to their concerns and try to determine whether their questions or problems warrant follow-up by a Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP) professional. Read more about the Information Referral resources on this Web site.

Information and Referral
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 228
Director: Nancy Salazar

The Institute for Recovery and Community Integration introduces and advances communities' understanding of recovery and community integration as the catalyst for transforming individual lives, communities and all levels of behavioral health systems in a culturally competent manner. Educational workshops, Mental Health Recovery and Community Integration Education Groups, WRAP Trainings, Certified Peer Specialist Program and Technical Assistance are all offered through the Institute. The website offers more detailed information.

Institute for Recovery and Community Integration
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 265
Manager: Matt Federici

Institutional and Patient Advocacy staff, who are located at Norristown State Hospital, monitor the treatment, services, discharge planning and benefit information (such as Social Security and Medicaid) provided to inpatients by the hospital. If necessary, staff advocates work on the patients' behalf or refer them to attorneys or outside agencies that specialize in mental health advocacy and/or law. Advocates also work with the offices of mental health in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties to make sure that appropriate housing and programs are available to meet the needs of patients once they leave the state hospital. They also work to identify and work to resolve problems in the mental health system through public policy initiatives.

Institutional and Patient Advocacy
Norristown State Hospital, Building 6
1001 Sterigere Street
Norristown, PA 19401
610-313-5685

Involved Consumer Action Network (ICAN) of PA encourages people who are consumers of behavioral health services to become more involved in planning and delivering those services and to also play a role in developing mental health policy. ICAN does this by providing training and information about innovative programs, best practices and other developing local and national mental health issues to consumer groups throughout Pennsylvania. ICAN also advocates for people with mental illnesses to serve on governmental committees and on the boards of private and nonprofit organizations. It also encourages various consumer, family and provider groups to form collaborative relationships.

ICAN of PA
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 258
John Farmer

Mainstream Thompson Street Project is a residential and vocational rehabilitation program for homeless men and women who have both a mental illness and a substance abuse problem. The program offers a variety of support services, including job-readiness classes, drug and alcohol recovery support, GED classes and a job placement service. The job readiness classes are open to people who fit the description of others served by the project but who have found their own housing.

Mainstream Thompson Street Project
5070 Parkside Avenue
Suite 1412
Philadelphia, PA 19131
215-879-2619

The Mental Health Aging / Advocacy Project works to increase awareness of the mental health needs of seniors and urges community and government leaders to develop mental health services that can meet those needs. It assists seniors, their families and caregivers as they navigate the often complex mental health system that provides those services. Visit the Mental Health Aging / Advocacy Web site for more information.

Mental Health Aging / Advocacy
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800 ext. 266
Director: Position Open

The Ombudsman/Care Coordinator (OCC) is located at Albert Einstein Medical Center where he assists people with severe mental illnesses who have been involuntarily committed through the hospital's inpatient treatment program. The OCC follows these people through the commitment process, advocates on their behalf at mental health court and follows up with those who are not committed to make sure they receive appropriate services when they return to the community.

Ombudsman/Care Coordinator, Crisis Response Center
Albert Einstein Medical Center
5501 Old York Road
Philadelphia, PA 19141
215-456-7430
Ombudsman/Care Coordinator: Alex Morisey

Parents Involved Network (PIN) assists parents or caregivers of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders. PIN provides information, helps parents find services and will advocate on their behalf with any of the public systems that serve children. These include the mental health system, education, and other state and local child-serving agencies. Visit the PIN Web site for more information.

Parents Involved Network
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 214
Director: William England

The Representative Payee program assists consumers of mental health services who are unable to handle their own finances. Under the program, a representative payee ("rep payee") is designated to receive a consumer's benefit and/or other income payments. The rep payee then assumes responsibility for the consumer's financial well-being by managing such tasks as budgeting, bill paying and distribution of spending money to the consumer.

Representative Payee Program
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800

The Special Education Project of PIN works to protect the rights of children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders in the educational system. This project monitors the Philadelphia School District to make sure it is fulfilling its legal obligation to provide both an education and appropriate services to children who have been determined to have special needs and, as a result, have an Individualized Education Program. Also included is work with Philadelphia Office of Mental Health (OMH) staff. OMH staff go into the public schools to provide support to children in crisis and training for parents, advocates and professionals about the special education rights of children under local, state and federal law.

Special Education Projects
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800

Targeted Case Management provides case management services to people with mental illnesses who have been referred by the Philadelphia County Office of Mental Health. Case managers assist these people in their recovery from mental illness by making sure their psychiatric, educational, social, and medical needs are addressed by connecting them to the appropriate community services.

Targeted Case Management
5070 Parkside Avenue, Suite 2300
Philadelphia, PA 19131
215-477-8061
Program Manager: Keith Hailey

The TEC (Training, Education and Consultation) Family Center offers workshops designed to help family members, partners and friends learn how to cope with the adult in their life who has a mental illness. TEC also offers one-on-one consultations, either in person or by phone, with family members and friends and trains mental health professionals who work with seriously ill adults and their families. Read more about the TEC program.

TEC Family Center
1211 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800, ext. 233
Director: Edie Mannion

Trail Guides is a mentoring program for young adults between the ages of 18 and 22 who experience mental health challenges and reside in Montgomery County. We are a recovery oriented program and believe that community integration supports the recovery process. Understanding that young adults transitioning from adolescence often experience loneliness, isolation, stigmatization and boredom, Trail Guides counteracts these negative factors and supports people in finding meaning and purpose in their lives. The peer mentors create unique opportunities to explore vocational and educational interests. They also provide travel training for participants to learn how to navigate the community and its resources and encourage and assist participants in building a healthy support network.

Trail Guides- Mentoring Program for Young Adults
700 East Main Street
2 North
Norristown, PA 19401
610-292-9922 x.108
Program Manager: Beth Higgins

Unity House Clubhouse is a psychosocial rehabilitation program modeled after the original Fountain House Clubhouse, which was established in New York City in 1948. The program is based on a "work-ordered day", in which members choose to gain appropriate skills in either clerical, horticultural, education or food service work. Members later have the opportunity to use their skills through a part-time internship at a local business.

Unity House Clubhouse
2221 North Broad Street
Suite 500
Philadelphia, PA 19132
215-235-1366
Program Manager: Tanya Doyle