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Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) - Mental Health Commission Homelessness Initiative
The Assertive Community Treatment team, known as ACT, is one facet of the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s ‘At Home/Chez Soi’ Project, providing culturally-relevant and -sensitive programming to homeless people with severe and persistent mental illness from both a client strength and harm reduction perspective. The ‘At Home/Chez Soi’ Project operates under a ‘housing first’ philosophy: all participants who successfully enter the program are placed in housing first, regardless of whether or not they agree to service. For those participants who do agree to service and who are identified by the researchers as ‘high-risk,’ Mount Carmel’s Assertive Community Treatment team is their service provider. What is Assertive Community Treatment? Services focus on both mental health needs and basic needs, and can include self-care, medication compliance, establishing social and/or family relationships, finding and keeping employment, and managing one’s own finances. Services will be culturally sensitive to all participants and aim to enable participants to regain and maintain stability (particularly in their new housing), take steps towards recovery, and achieve personal goals. Services are provided to participants in their homes and in the community. What Services Does ACT Provide? The ACT team is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of mental health professionals. Regardless of individual disciplines, the team share equal responsibility in assisting participants through their recovery. There is a low participant to staff ratio of ten to one. The team consists of the following:
Do you know someone who might be eligible to participate?
It is important to note that Mount Carmel Clinic does not control intake into the program. Interested community agencies should consult the document Information for Referring Agencies and read carefully about the MHCC Research Demonstration Project. The Participant Referral Form can be accessed HERE. |
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