Support & Recovery Services
Catholic Charities Maine Support & Recovery Services is the primary provider of Community Integration Services (case management) in the Cumberland County Area, the most populous area in the State of Maine. The Program serves adults living with serious and prolonged mental illness who want and need a wide range of services to meet and support their goals for community living. Priority is given to people returning to the community from inpatient psychiatric facilities, people who are homeless with mental illness, and those whose level of functioning or living situations place them at risk of re-institutionalization.
As a program that provides community-based mental health services, the mission of Support & Recovery is to work in partnership with persons with mental illness to achieve their goals of successful community living, recovery, and self-management of mental illness and life. At the heart of the program is the belief that people dealing with mental illness can determine the course of their own lives. The relationship between professionally trained staff and program participants is based upon mutual respect, trust, and a combined effort to focus on the participant’s individual strength and goals. Key client outcomes of this partnership essential to successful community living are attaining appropriate housing, work or meaningful activity, psychological well being & life-satisfaction, recovery & self-management of mental health, social connections, ADL skills, ability to set & attain goals, and maintenance of health and appropriate use of hospitalization. SRS is committed to delivering the highest quality services possible, based upon “Best Practice” models, and individually tailored to meet each client’s unique circumstances.
Services Provided
Annually over 950 people are served through a cluster of five Case Management teams and an Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACT). The Program is supported by a total staff of over seventy.
Case Management
Case Management Services follow the NACM definition of case management which describes case management as “a practice in which the service recipient is a partner in assessing needs, obtaining services, treatments and supports, and in preventing and managing crisis. The focus of the partnership is recovery and self management of mental illness and life. The individual and the practitioner plan, coordinate, monitor, adjust and advocate for services and supports directed toward the achievement of the individual’s personal goals for community living. The functions of Case Management include obtaining basic supports, crisis prevention and intervention, assessment to determine needed services and resources, outcome focused service/treatment planning, referral and linkage with chosen services, engagement and developing a helpful, trusting relationship, coordinating and adjusting service delivery, and advocacy.”
Our case management teams, made up of credentialed case managers work under the supervision of a licensed social worker/counselor. In response to a growing Hispanic population the program has 2 case managers and a supervisor who speak Spanish.
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
ACT differs from case management services in that the medical/psychiatric component is integrated into case management by having a half-time psychiatrist and one psychiatric nurse as part of the service team and the team has twenty-four hour a day/seven day a week service capability. The Team also has four clinical community support workers, a vocational specialist and a dual diagnosis/substance abuse specialist. The ACT team has a smaller, intensely served case load and follow a “team practice” approach.
History of Program Services
Catholic Charities Maine Support & Recovery Services was formerly part of the Holy Innocents Program, a provider of home & community based services since 1968 under the umbrella of Catholic Charities Maine. This program was at the forefront of the Community Support Movement in the State of Maine in the 70’s, and responded to a request in 1985 by the Department of Mental Health to become the first case management agency in the state for persons with serious mental illness. In addition to having a reputation for providing services that are of the highest quality that have evolved to be more responsive to consumers, the program is known for its emphasis on “quality work life” and support and development of its work community, and its leadership and collaboration in developing a more responsive and integrated local services network.
The Agency’s mission emphasizes Service, Advocacy, and Convening. Beyond the direct service provided to individuals, program staff at all levels are involved in a wide variety of community and statewide efforts to enhance mental health services, improve service delivery, and maximize the social, psychological, and economic strengths of individuals with or at risk for mental illness.
Office Location
66 State Street
PO Box 797
Portland, ME 04104
Tel: 207.871.7431
Fax: 207.871.7457
TTY: 207.871.7431 |
