IN CRISIS: Call or text 988

DBHIDS - Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services.

Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services

IN CRISIS: Call or text 988

DBHIDS - Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services.

IN CRISIS: Call or text 988

DBHIDS - Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services.

Organization

Behavioral Health Special Initiative

The BHSI Program functions as a managed care organization authorizing each patient’s care according to clinical/medical necessity (based on the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria) and referring them to a network of licensed drug and alcohol treatment providers across the region.

In addition to ongoing coordination with the Office of Addiction Services, the BHSI program works with the other components of the City’s Department of Behavioral Health/MRS: Community Behavioral Health and the Office of Mental Health. This allows the program to better meet the needs of clients whose funding eligibility fluctuates between medical assistance and non-medical assistance status as well as clients who have co-occurring disorders (mental health and subtance use disorders).

Staff of this program is composed of dedicated individuals with significant clinical background and knowledge of substance abuse, mental health and health care issues as well as other staff with expertise in billing and computer skills. BHSI is not an entitlement program and has guidelines for treatment.

PMHCC provides critical administrative support to the BHSI Program through its fiscal component, information and human resources management and a variety of other managerial elements.

Significant Incident Report

Providers must report all reportable Significant Incidents following a centralized two-step process:

  1. Report the incident by telephone to the assigned BHSI Service Manager or Service Manager’s supervisor within 24 hours of the incident or upon notification of the incident’s occurrence.
  2. A copy of all reportable incidents must be emailed to BHSI.quality@phila.gov or uploaded to the BHSI Quality Provider Portal. You must have an active user name and password to access. Please do not include Protected Health Information (PHI) in the subject line of the submitted documents
 
Pa. Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs
Treatment Services Descriptions
 
Behavioral Health Special Initiative Provider Manuals
Mission

The mission of the Behavioral Health Special Initiative (BHSI) Program is to provide assessments, referrals and funding support for persons who are uninsured or underinsured with substance abuse problems and who can access licensed treatment programs. Under the umbrella title of BHSI, the program manages several state and local funding allocations, the largest of which is the Behavioral Health Special Initiative. Programmatically, BHSI operates under the auspices of the City’s Office of Addiction Services (OAS), a component of the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services through a contract with PMHCC.

Other Activities

BHSI works closely with the Forensic Intensive Recovery Program and other criminal justice initiatives serving individuals within that system. BHSI staff provides clinical evaluations for forensic clients, identifies community-based treatment sites, and pays for the treatment of those individuals who were mandated by the court to attend treatment in lieu of incarceration.

‍The Office of Addiction Services is also embedded and housed at BHSI that offer non-drug treatment services which support clients while they’re receiving formal treatment in order to address a broad array of needs. The coordination of treatment and core services helps clients maximize their rehabilitation and recovery process.

All Addiction Services-funded outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization programs can access core services for clients participating in their treatment program. Core services are also available to criminal justice clients in residential programs, and OAS-funded recovery houses and the Philadelphia Recovery Community Center. These identified services include:

  • Domestic violence counseling-victim perpetrator
  • Life skills
  • GED
  • Literacy/education
  • Parenting skills training
  • Nutrition
  • Anger management
  • Wellness works
  • Therapeutic recreation and housing
  • Credit and financial services