When you call to access services you’ll be able to speak to a mental health professional who can help you with your situation. Emergencies will be taken care of immediately.

You will get answers to your questions about community services and how to receive help from us and other agencies. To decide what kind of help you might need, you will have a clinical assessment at a time convenient for you with a caring, qualified behavioral health professional. If you are eligible for services, you will be linked quickly to the program(s) best suited for your condition. (If you speak a language other than English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-800-337-8598 or TTY: 711 for more information.)

After your clinical assessment we will talk together about the findings and recommendations. If you are eligible for behavioral health services, you will be linked  to the program that is best suited for your condition. In most cases, we will arrange your first appointment before you leave so treatment can begin without needless delay.

We will complete an ability to pay assessment and answer your questions about cost. We will coordinate services with your primary care providers.

We have a standardized process to help connect people to right services. We match services and supports to the consumer’s need based upon individual clinical conditions and circumstances, and to the extent possible, personal choice. Four areas influence the decisions regarding treatment:

• Clinical Condition – The Michigan Mental Health Code and our contract with the Michigan Department of  Health and Human Services (MDHHS) establishes the priority population for us to serve. They are adults with a serious mental illness, persons with an intellectual/developmental disability or children with serious emotional disturbance who have Medicaid or Healthy Michigan.
• Medical Necessity – Services need to be “medically necessary.” This includes: screening and assessing to determine if a mental illness exists, providing treatments to lessen or stabilize symptoms, providing treatments to stop or delay a mental illness from worsening, or providing psychosocial rehabilitation to assist an individual experiencing a mental illness to improve functioning. Under our Specialty Supports and Services contract with MDHHS, applicants must meet eligibility criteria which are detailed in the contract.
• Therapeutic Appropriateness – Clinical practice guidelines are used to help determine the types of supports/treatments that are accepted by medical and other professional disciplines as effective. Providers are credentialed to help ensure that consumers are provided a high quality service in the least restrictive environment. Providing treatment in a consumer’s local community is a priority.
• Person Centered Planning Process – A process for planning with the consumer that builds upon the individual’s capacity to engage in activities that promote recovery and community life and honors the individual’s preferences, choices and abilities. The person centered planning process may involve family, friends and professionals per the consumer’s choice.