Community Mental Health Centers: Service Overview
For the first Northern Human Services (NHS) newsletter in many years, I thought I would introduce myself and the programs the Community Mental Health Centers offer. I am Kassie Eafrati the Chief of Operations for Mental Health and I have been with NHS for 10 years and have worked in both developmental services and mental health. My current position allows for me to oversee all of the mental health clinics and programs we offer throughout the region.
Where are we Located?
NHS has mental health clinics based out of Wolfeboro, Conway, Berlin, Littleton, Groveton, and Colebrook. Our clinics cover the top 40% of NH and we are expected to serve any person with mental illness within that geographical region.
What Services in Mental Health do we Provide?
NHS offers outpatient, evidence-informed services for children and adults that can include individual and group therapy, case management, functional support services (community based work), financial case management, rep payee services, residential services, transitional/bridge housing support, critical time intervention services, youth and young adult suicide prevention, drug treatment court, mobile crisis rapid response, substance misuse services, psychiatry, nursing, assertive community treatment, illness management and recovery, supportive employment, vocational employment, and infant and early childhood mental health services.
How do we Serve the Community?
The staff employed within these programs work with developmental services providers, primary care providers, medical and psychiatric hospitals, all parts of the judicial system, schools, child care centers, division of children, youth and families, bureau of elderly abuse, vocational rehabilitation, family resource centers, and many other partnering agencies in order to provide the best and most collaborative care to our members.
Each program offers something unique and many clients participate in several programs during their time with mental health. Many of these programs have been in place since the beginning of community mental health and others are brand new within the last year.
NHS does not deny mental health services to any person, but there may be a wait to get in due to the staffing shortages like many of our partner systems are experiencing.
Like many systems, the mental health system can be scary and many hesitate to take the first step in asking for help for a variety of reasons. We are working every day to make this process easier and more accessible to everyone.
Although both developmental services and mental health are within NHS, the eligibility and programs provided by each differ drastically. My hope is that over the course of the newsletter publications you will learn more about the many programs I’ve introduced to you above. In this issue, we are featuring White Mountain Mental Health…I invite you to read the article.
If you have questions around supports and/or services available, eligibility, etc. or are just curious about what Northern Human Services provides and what is available for mental health, I would love to talk more with you; my contact information is keafrati@northernhs.org.
Kassie Eafrati
Chief of Operations, Mental Health