Coordinated Consumer Services (CCS)

Coordinated Consumer Services operates under the auspices of the Philadelphia Office of Mental Health (OMH) for the purpose of providing clinical support to that office. Unlike OMH whose primary focus is on contracting with and monitoring of provider agencies, Coordinated Consumer Services is directly involved with the clinical care of specific consumers. It coordinates its efforts with all components of the Behavioral Health System, including Community Behavioral Health (the City’s managed care organization), OMH, the Coordinating Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs, the Continuity of Care Teams, other Offices of the Department of Social Services, State and community hospitals, and community provider agencies, and various State agencies.

Coordinated Consumer Services is composed of four units: Targeted Case Management, Access to Alternative Services, Specialized Clinical and Criminal Justice Unit, and the Admission, Discharge and Planning Team.

Targeted Case Management Unit (TCM)

This unit, composed of seven staff members, provides technical assistance and support to agencies, which provide Targeted Case Management services to individuals meeting medical necessity criteria. (Targeted Case Management services assist consumers in accessing, linking, and participating in treatment and support services as well as in a variety of community resources.) The TCM Unit is responsible for authorizing these case management services, providing concurrent reviews every six months or at the time a consumer transitions from one level of care to another and approving discharges. For those individuals who have Medical Assistance, the Targeted Case Management Unit coordinates closely with Community Behavioral Health. The newest component to the unit is the Rapid Response Team (RRT) – a (direct service) team providing short-term outreach services to adult consumers without case management services who have been identified as having been involuntarily committed 2 or more times in a 12-month period; or who have been seen frequently in Crisis Response Centers, inpatient units, or Mental Health Court; or who have had multiple contacts with the Mental Health Delegate.

Access to Alternative Services Unit

The Access to Alternative Services (AAS) Unit assures that clients are placed in the most clinically appropriate residential settings possible and makes the most efficient use of the residential resources available to the County OMH. AAS accomplishes its mission via centralized gatekeeping of admissions to and discharges from OMH-subsidized residences and a coordinated system to routinely review the status of clients residing at each site. The network of residential resources comprises approximately 2000 beds operated by 30 agencies at 170 sites. A sophisticated database created by OMH's Research and Information Management (RIM) unit enables AAS to keep track of all of the clients currently residing in its network of mental health residences (and their readiness/need to move to another, more appropriate level of care) as well as those clients who are awaiting placement. AAS has nine professional staff and three support staff. An affiliated unit is the PCBH Service Coordination component whose function is to help PCH providers identify and better respond to the needs of all of its behavioral health residents; and, client choice, client satisfaction and client safety, particularly when circumstances will necessitate their relocation from one residence to another.

Specialized Clinical and Criminal Justice Unit

The Specialized Clinical and Criminal Justice Unit coordinates numerous responsibilities focusing on the tracking and provision of clinical services to high-risk consumers within the city system. The unit receives and responds to calls that may come from any number of different sources including but not limited to other City Departments, as well as agencies outside the City. In specific, the Specialized Clinical and Criminal Justice Unit must approve potential admissions of Philadelphia residents to Norristown State Hospital (NSH) and must authorize their discharge. The unit works collaboratively with the Court of Common Pleas in regards to Civil Mental Health Court gathering data in court, supplying expert testimony and ensuring that consumers receive adequate court services. The unit includes a family resource specialist who provides resource direction to families and assists further when needed with consumer-specific issues. The unit authorizes admissions/ discharges, as well as provides monthly utilization review, to the Long Term Structured Residences. It oversees inter and intra-state transfers. The unit can provide risk-assessment, psychological testing or neuropsychological testing when necessary to identify areas of consumer need, suggest interventions and make placement recommendations post-release from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections as well as the Philadelphia County Jail System. The unit has criminal justice responsibilities involving clinical risk assessment to individuals being considered for placement ensure adequate adjustment of the consumer to the community and prevent recidivism of the consumer back to prison/jail. The Specialized Clinical and Criminal Justice Unit has 13 professional staff members.

The Admission, Discharge and Planning Team (ADAPT)

Any acute facility which wants to transfer a patient to one of the two Extended Acute Care Units in the City must first obtain authorization from ADAPT. ADAPT screens, evaluates and reviews all referrals in order to ensure appropriate utilization of additional hospital days in an Extended Acute Care Unit. The unit also has responsibility for authorizing admission to Norristown State Hospital from the Extended Acute Care Units. It coordinates with Community Behavioral Health around concurrent reviews for continued hospital stays and discharges to a community facility.

PMHCC provides administrative supports, including fiscal, personnel, and information services, to Coordinated Consumer Services.