The New Jersey Supported Housing program is gearing up for the state’s implementation of Community Support Services (CSS). For the past several years, the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services and the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services have been working collaboratively to bring CSS into being a Medicaid billable rehabilitation service. While they are doing their work, CareLink has been preparing as well. Although the program is small, with only two employees, and serving up to eight individuals living in their own apartments, we have been discussing the upcoming changes with the program participants.
The focus of CSS matches well with CareLink’s philosophy of providing supports and services to help individuals be successful and thrive as productive members in the community. The Program Supervisor attended an 8-session training on CSS provided by Rutgers School of Health Related Professions that offered various tools staff can use to help individuals in service to reflect on their hopes, dreams and aspirations and develop goals that not only address some of the challenges of living with a mental illness, but to also pay attention to the whole person and the wellness that every person deserves (physical, spiritual, intellectual health, etc.).
With Illness Management Recovery (IMR) being one of the CSS approved billable service, the staff of the Supported Housing program will soon begin participating in a research project at Indiana University Purdue University to investigate how supervision and feedback on skills used during IMR can improve staff skills at providing IMR. As always, OUR hope is to bring the best services possible to the people we serve!
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