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Delaware County Division
The Delaware County Division of the Consumer Satisfaction Team has been in operation for more than ten years. Although activities and responsibilities of the team continue to expand, we are committed to ensure that Delaware County’s Behavioral Health Services “meet the expressed needs and wishes of the users of those services." Currently, Delaware County Division employs a staff of six. Those staff members are consumers and family members. Our division continues to do unannounced visits to the mental health sites. However, substance abuse sites remain announced as requested by the funders. Additionally, the team maintains a schedule of 15 to 17 site visits a month.
We conduct informal face-to-face interviews with consumers/clients to ascertain satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their services. The team is organized so that all staff members are trained to do a crossover in terms of mental health, substance abuse, and health choices. Our role continues to be reporting this information to the funders and providers of behavioral health services, not to be advocates or monitors. We do not provide problem resolution.
We continue to submit written reports, as well as meet regularly with the funders of behavioral health services, the Consumer Advisory Committee (CFAC) and the Provider Advisory Committee (PAC). It is the funder’s responsibility to ensure that consumer and family concerns are addressed in a timely fashion. Our role is to hold them accountable.
Requests for staff to participate in behavioral health committees at the local, state, and regional levels remain ongoing. The purpose is to have consumers and family members input with regard to improvement of mental health and substance abuse services.
In summary, the Delaware County Division of CST staff makes over 200 site visits a year and on an average engages over 800 consumers/clients.
Staff
Cheryl Brown - Program Manager; Capri Janik - Administrative Assistant
Pamela Bona, Jennifer Miller, Michelle Collier, Alex Kostaneski, Nicole Monaghan - Behavioral Health Specialists
Site Visits
Mobile Psychiatric Rehabilitation
CST staff visits the MPR sites and speaks with consumers. In addition, CST may also conduct telephone interviews with consumers who utilize the MPR services.
Drug and Alcohol Services
CCST visits Intensive Outpatient, and/or Outpatient programs, Methadone, Residential and Halfway Houses. CST usually speaks with over 200 consumers who are receiving these services.
Norristown State Hospital
CST visits Norristown State Hospital. CST speaks with the consumers about groups, staff, team meetings, peers, family contact, and for some of the consumers, their discharge goals.
Residential Treatment Facility
CST visits the Residential Treatment Facility (RTF). CST will ask the consumer about their doctor, groups, and especially the staff. The RTF is designed for short-term treatment as an alternative to inpatient placement.
Community Living Arrangements
CST visits a variety of residential services. Service types included Community Residential Rehabilitations (CRR), Specialized Personal Care Home (SPCH), Three Person Home (TPR), Specialized Care Residential Rehabilitation (SCRR), Supportive Housing Services (SHS), Support Living Services (SLS), Special Residence for the Homeless (SPRES) and Long Term Structured Residence (LTSR). CST will engage over 200 consumers in these levels of care.
Case Management
CST will also shadow case managers. The purpose of this initiative is to better understand the interactions with consumers and also to hear from consumers about their level of satisfaction with their case management services.
Clubhouse and Drop-In Centers
CST visits consumers at the drop-in centers and clubhouses. CST asks the consumers to complete a short questionnaire, followed by small group discussions of any issues raised by consumers.
Community Meetings
CST has visited sites to attend their community meetings. The role of CST during these meetings is to observe the role of the consumer in meeting facilitation. The team also focuses on the consumer input and feedback in terms of decision making, i.e. outings, chores, etc.
ACT NOW II
CST visits the ACT NOW II program, which is a job preparation/placement service for consumers who are actively involved in mental health services in Delaware County and have been recommended by their Intensive Case Manager. ACT NOW II is a 15-week program. Consumers are asked if they are excited about the prospect of working and whether the program is meeting their individual needs.
Mental Health/Intensive Outpatient/Outpatient Services
CST visited MH IOP/OP sites and spoke with more than 40 consumers. Most consumers are satisfied with services provided to them. They mention specific satisfactions such as peer interactions and staff being sensitive to their cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services
CST visits Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. Consumers frequently mention the availability of staff. Consumers also state that the programs meet their needs and they are especially satisfied that the program improved their quality of life.
Crisis Response Units
CST visits adult crisis response units at different times during the day, including evenings and weekends. CST interviews consumers most of whom state that they waited to be seen by the doctor at least three hours. Consumers report that staff and doctors answered their questions. Most consumers state that they would return to the crisis center in the future if they required crisis service again.
Mental Health Residential Programs
CST visits more than 80 residential sites and speaks with approximately 300 consumers who express various satisfactions such as living independently, being able to prepare their own food, goal planning, family support, having a choice of planned activities, and having good relationships with peers.
Consumer Calls
CST receives telephone calls from consumers/clients, family members and staff of provider agencies. Team members are able to assist consumers/clients in ascertaining/addressing satisfaction with their issues. In some cases this entails addressing the consumer’s issue with the providers of service, case management, attending COMAP meetings, Health Choices and being directed to resources in Delaware County.
Special Projects
Over the years, Delaware County CST has been involved in many special projects at the request of the Office of Behavioral Health. CST has done assessments with those consumers who have moved out of Haverford State Hospital into the community to ascertain if the transition was a positive experience. CST has visited Project Reach to provide insight into the crisis intervention services provided to the residents of Delaware County. The Consumer Satisfaction Team has shadowed the Delaware County Account Specialist of the Representative Payee Program. The purpose of this project was to gain insight into the consumer budget planning process. CST has also completed assessments of consumer satisfaction from individuals who were discharged from Norristown State Hospital. The questions addressed different aspects of the discharge into the community and consumers’ satisfaction with their present living arrangement.
Accountability Activities
The Consumer Satisfaction Team submits a written report on each site visited by CST staff to the appropriate funding authority and provider agency. Reports document the consumers’ satisfaction, needs, which require special attention, concerns, and staff comments. The CST staff meets on a monthly regular basis with the administrators from the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH). At these meetings, the concerns/issues identified are discussed and provider written responses to concerns/issues identified are reviewed. The funding authorities report on how consumer issues have been addressed.
Ongoing Activities
CST visits most of the services, which are part of the Delaware County Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol System. This includes but is not limited to independent living arrangements, specialized supportive living arrangements, specialized personal care homes, three person residences, specialized personal care homes, long term structured residences, assisted living arrangements, day programs, drop-in centers, halfway houses, rehabilitation facilities, psych rehab programs, clubhouses, intensive outpatient, and Methadone. All site visits are documented in report form, which includes information on needs, strengths, concerns, and satisfaction of consumers as well as staff comments.
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