Our speaker this week is David West, Associate Director at Integral Care.. In this role, he oversees Integral Care's four Adult Integrated Behavioral Health Clinics, as well as Integral Care's SAMHSA Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Grant Program. Has been with Integral for 14 years.
Integral Care helps people living with mental illness and substance use disorder rebuild and maintain their mental and physical health. They offer:
Counseling to support emotional health
Drug and alcohol treatment to help with recovery
Housing to regain health and independence
Wellness services for people who want to learn ways to lead a healthy life
Adult Behavioral Health Clinics
There are 4 primary clinics in Adult Behavioral Health:
- E. 2nd Street Clinic 1631 E. 2nd Street (open access/walk-ins accepted)
- St. John ABH Clinic 6937 N. IH-35 2nd Floor (open access/walk-ins accepted)
- Stonegate Clinic 2501 West William Cannon Dr. Bldg. 4 (open access/walk-ins accepted)
- "Oak Springs Clinic 3000 Oak Springs (primarily for people who are unhoused)
The first step to getting into services is going through Intake. Intake is currently operating as open access/walk-ins at the E. 2nd Street, St. John, and Stonegate clinics. To learn more about services, schedule or inquire about intake walk-in
Intake Process
Intake typically takes 1.5-2 hours but wait times can be longer depending on demand. The intake process includes:
- Meeting with a Benefits Eligibility Specialist to verify income and insurance and determine cost
- Meeting with an Intake Specialist who will provide assessments to determine diagnosis, needs, strengths, eligibility and level of care for services
- Once open to services, the individual seeking services will be scheduled with their first appointments with their treatment team
Intake Optimization Strategies
Transitions of Care - Partnership with Crisis and Residential Services
Cross-Clinic Intakes - On-site walk-ins can be seen virtually across locations
- Appointment Optimization
- Walk-in Clinics - All Clinics
- Enhanced Scheduling (Just in Time)
- Uniform Schedules - All Clinics
- Continued monitoring of existing strategies in weekly meetings
What is Level of Care?
Level of Care is determined at the time of intake and through regular reassessment with the Texas Resiliency and Recovery Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment. This is a State standardized assessment which identifies personal strengths and barriers to meeting personal goals.
Level of Care 1
This provides access to meet with a prescriber who can provide medication training and to case management services provided by a Qualified Mental Health Practitioner (QMHP). These are scheduled as needed, but appointments are usually scheduled every 90 days unless otherwise indicated. People may schedule their own appointments more frequently if necessary, and they can do so by contacting the centralized call center.
Case Management provides:
- Ongoing assessment of need
- Linkage to identified resources
- ongoing education about medication and symptom management
Level of Care 2
This provides counseling services to those people who carry a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). This level of care provides the same services of Level of Care 1 with the addition of weekly or biweekly Cognitive Behavioral Therapy provided by a licensed therapist.
Level of Care 3
This provides medication services provided by a prescriber and Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services provided by a Qualified Mental Health Practitioner (QMHP). Social, behavioral and cognitive interventions that build on individual strengths and focus on restoring a person's ability to effectively use independent living skills that are affected by serious mental illness in adults.
Level of Care 4
This provides for intensive Psychosocial Rehabilitation and medication services. People receiving this Level of Care work with an Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team and meet in the community multiple times per week. Medication services are provided by a prescriber typically monthly. This team may provide some after-hours and weekend services as needed.
