Accountability and Data Collection


Over the past 20 years, CST has continued to carry out its mission ensuring that specific publicly supported and funded services meet the expressed needs and wishes of the consumers of those services.  Part of this process is partnering with the funders to ensure that consumers, family members and clients’ voices continue to be an essential element in the delivery of behavioral health and human services.

An integral part of this process is CST conducting face-to-face interviews with consumers/clients and their families at the facility providing their services, in addition to receiving telephone calls.  CST staff also engage family members by participating at community outreach events and conferences to ascertain their perspective of their loved one’s services as they relate to their recovery.

A written report is generated for each site visit and telephone call.  The reports note the consumer’s/client’s satisfaction, needs and concerns and staff comments.  The reports are distributed to the specific funder(s) and provider agency.

The reporting process solidifies CST’s relationships with Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health funders, which include Community Behavioral Health (CBH), Office of Addictive Services (OAS), and the Office of Mental Health (OMH).

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Meeting With The Funding Authority


Representatives of the DBH (L-R) Andy Devos (CBH), Alicia Lucas (FIR), Kim Lara (DBH), Sandy Vasko (OMH), and Aaron Rice (BHSI).

The Consumer Satisfaction Team submits a written report of each site visit made by CST staff to the appropriate funding authority and the relevant provider agency. These reports document the consumer’s level of satisfaction, needs which require special attention, concerns and staff comments. The CST has joint meetings twice a month with all of the funders of adult and children services, including the Office of Mental Health (OMH), Community Behavioral Health (CBH), the Office of Addiction Services (OAS), and Behavioral Health Special Initiative (BHSI). At these meetings, CST’s written reports are reviewed and discussed, and the funding authorities report on how the consumer concerns and/or program issues identified by CST are or have been addressed.

The various stakeholders have acknowledged the value of CST, as it is recognized that the information provided by CST offers insight on how to assess/evaluate the quality of their services and performance, based on the consumer/client/family perspective.

CST’s Accountability meetings with DBH are held twice a month. At the meetings, the reports are discussed and reviewed. In attendance are representatives from the OMH, CBH, OAS, Forensic Intensive Recovery (FIR) program, and Behavioral Health Special Intensive (BHSI) program. Just as CST provides written reports to the funders; the funders provide CST with written documentation showing how they addressed the issues brought to their attention. This ensures that concerns/issues are responded to in a timely manner. CST, on repeat visits, check with consumers to be sure their issues have been addressed/resolved.

CST continues to receive individual responses directly from provider agencies when satisfactions and concerns are noted in reports. This direct communication fosters the agency’s motto “Listening to People First” and strengthens CST’s relationship with provider agencies and their staff.

In addition to recognizing the consumer’s individual voice, CST compiles data for the funders as part of their accountability process with the State of Pennsylvania and other stakeholders. The data reflects the number of visits conducted and telephone calls received and the issues relayed to CST via the site visits and/or telephone calls. The data is specifically classified in several reports, based on the frequency of the issue reported and if it was addressed and/or resolved. This information also provides a global reflection of systemic issues from the consumer’s perspective.