Community Support Program

What is the Community Support Program?

The Community Support Program (CSP) assists individuals who are living with severe and persistent mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar, or major depression. CSP aims to assist individuals in identifying and navigating symptoms, medication management, building positive social supports, skill development and enhancement, activities of daily living, community interaction, rehabilitation, and more. CSP provides person-centered care and supports individuals in living a meaningful, fulfilling, self-directed life.

CSP is designed to be a hospital without walls; individuals in CSP receive structured mental health treatment and support while living as independently as possible in their home community. Because severe, prolonged mental illness can affect all aspects of a person’s life, our CSP focuses interventions on the needs of the whole person, not just the mental illness. Provision of a stable living arrangement and the skills necessary to enable individuals to reach their maximum level of community living is aided by an individual recovery plan developed for each participant. Recovery is supported under clinical supervision and plans are developed to maximize involvement and integration into the community as individuals regain their health.

The Community Support Program has been proven to reduce hospitalization days, reduce the need for extended inpatient placement, and/or reduce placement in residential treatment facilities.

Who is eligible for the Community Support Program?

  • Adults 18 and older
  • One of the following mental health diagnoses: schizophrenia, bipolar, or major depression.
  • Must be a resident of Oneida, Forest, or Vilas County
  • Eligibility is determined by mental health diagnosis and intensity of need.

Our Community Support Program Philosophy:

  • Our role is to work in partnership with people to organize treatment in a way that honors individual needs and preferences as well as support people’s efforts to manage their own affairs and make decisions for themselves. When a person is legally determined to be incapable of acting on his/her own behalf, we support representation by legal counsel or guardianship.
  • Experience has shown us that people most effectively build a life for themselves and acquire skills when supported to do so in a home of their choice, on a job, in school, and among friends and family.
  • Most importantly, we recognize that messages of hope, healing, recovery, and self-worth best come from friends, family, and belonging to the community. We challenge ourselves to help people open doors to personal relationships and community involvement.
  • We measure the quality of our services by the same standards that we use for ourselves, our friends, and our families.

Who is in the Community Support Program Team?

The Community Support Program values partnership and collaboration. The CSP team works alongside individuals to develop and strive toward recovery goals and increased life satisfaction. The CSP team consists of the following:

  • Client

    The individual who has completed the admissions process and is receiving treatment and services

  • Case Manager/CSP Professional

    Maintains a clinical treatment relationship with the client on a weekly basis to assist in providing a full range of appropriate treatment, rehabilitation, and support services to the client in a planned, coordinated, efficient, and effective manner

  • Mental Health Technician

    Meets with client to assist with activities of daily living, skill development and enhancement, community interaction, independent living skills, accessing resources, and client’s identified recovery goals

  • Registered Nurse

    Assists with monitoring mental health symptoms, assessing for medication side effects and/or adverse reactions to medications, may administer medications under psychiatrist’s direction, may provide medication education

  • Psychiatrist

    Meets with client on an ongoing basis to assess client’s mental health symptoms and behavior, prescribes appropriate medications, monitors client’s response to medications

  • Mental Health Therapist

    Client has access to a mental health therapist who can assist with symptom education and management, coping strategies, healthy relationships, and navigating other life stressors as they may arise

  • Clinical Coordinator

    Provides direct supervision of the client’s treatment services and supervision of CSP clinical staff to ensure treatment and services are best meeting each individual client’s needs

The CSP team may include other providers and community resources to ensure that services are coordinated to best meet the individual’s needs.

What services can the Community Support Program provide?

The CSP can assist individuals in the following services :

  • Medication and symptom management

    In-house psychiatrist prescribes and monitors psychiatric medications; registered nurse and team assists with monitoring for side effects and mental health symptoms, along with providing medication education, symptom education and identification, advocacy, and tools in increasing medication compliance.

  • Community living skills

    Side-by-side assistance in the community setting, familiarization and support with using community resources, increasing inclusion and participation in community activities

  • Independent living skills

    Side-by-side tips and strategies to enhance daily activities of living such as meal preparation and nutrition, household chores and maintenance, grooming/hygiene and self-care, budgeting education, and more

  • Social skills and social supports

    Strategies to assist with developing positive and healthy social relationships, interpersonal communication skills, encouragement and opportunity to participate in social activities

  • Psychoeducation

    Individual and family education regarding mental health and wellness, diagnoses, symptoms and symptom management, navigating treatment and treatment options

  • Advocacy

    Assistance with communicating an individual’s needs and rights within systems and community, individual empowerment and voice

  • Individual and/or group therapy

    In-house CSP mental health therapist is available for one-on-one and group therapy to assist with symptoms, coping strategies, relationships, addressing trauma, daily life stressors, and more

  • 24 hour/day crisis intervention

    Crisis intervention services available 24/7 with access to trained crisis counselors, safety and stabilization planning

  • Referrals for employment training

    Assistance with accessing community resources for employment training and support

  • Assistance in finding and maintaining adequate living

    Assistance with accessing community resources for housing and creating stable and healthy living environments

  • Assistance in applying for benefits and/or financial assistance

    Side-by-side assistance with identifying resources and benefits; individual may be referred to the appropriate resource or agency to apply for benefits or other forms of assistance, budgeting education, opportunity to work with a representative payee

  • Referrals for other service needs

    Assistance with identifying needs and available community resources, benefits, or programs that may support individuals in getting their needs met

What does the Community Support Program cost?

How Can I Get More Information?

To learn more about if the Community Support Program is right for you or someone you know, please complete and submit the referral form or for more information regarding the Community Support Program Read the DHS 63