Phila.gov
Cross-system
Collaboration
Cross-system collaboration is an essential component to achieving overall wellness. Behavioral health settings are not the natural habitat of many community members. DBHIDS supports innovative cross-system collaboration to strengthen the capacity of the workforce to meet the health and wellness needs of people.
Supporting Our Most Vulnerable Population
Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health provides a wide range of support and treatment services to homeless persons with behavioral health problems. DBHIDS funds five outreach teams, which are managed through the Project Homeless Outreach Coordination Center. These outreach teams are:
- Horizon House
- Horizon House Spot
- Self, Inc.
- Project Home
- Mental Health Association
These teams provide outreach services throughout Philadelphia, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Each team operates in specific target areas of the city, but not limited to those areas. Each team is trained in the area of Mental Health and Addiction Disorders and provides or supports vital outreach services, including:
- Crisis intervention
- Limited case management support
- Mental health/addiction challenges
- Housing assistance
Outreach workers are sensitive to the unique challenges of homeless individuals. The outreach teams work to build trusting relationships so that these individuals will accept placement in an appropriate setting where they can obtain treatment and housing services to stabilize their lives.
If you know someone who in your community who is homeless, please contact the 24-hour Project Homeless Coordination Center Hotline at (215) 232-1984.
Project H.O.M.E.
1515 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130
The Journey of Hope Project
The Journey of Hope Project offers an opportunity for individuals experiencing prolonged homelessness and behavioral health challenges to embark on a path towards recovery; improve their health and wellness; live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. Click for more on the Journey of Hope Project.
Smoking is the leading cause of death and disability for those with behavioral health issues, and smoking rates are significantly higher for this population than those of the general population. For example 41% of Philadelphia residents with mental health conditions are smokers and, nationally, persons with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have lifetime smoking prevalence rates as high as 82%.
Here at DBHIDS we believe people with behavioral health conditions have a right to wellness and recovery. Tobacco-free environment and cessation treatments are effective ways to reduce rates of tobacco use among persons in acute inpatient psychiatric (AIP) and extended acute inpatient (EAC) settings which is why we are working with these providers to implement a tobacco-free environment by the end of 2015.
Learn more about the work we are doing to make treatment facilities – eventually of all kinds across Philadelphia – tobacco-free below.
About TRWI
The Tobacco Recovery and Wellness Initiative (TRWI) is a project that helps behavioral health providers incorporate evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment into their clinical and community practice.
The mission of TRWI is to reduce smoking rates by 10 to 15 percent in the next three to five years among Philadelphians with behavioral health problems (and among behavioral health staff) by:
- Recognizing and addressing tobacco use as a core behavioral health priority
- Offering consistent, evidence-based cessation counseling and treatment to consumers
- Creating a treatment (and workplace) climate that fosters smoke-free living
TRWI is a partnership between the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Tobacco Policy and Control Program, University of Pennsylvania’s Comprehensive Smoking Treatment Program, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities (DBHIDS) that engages behavioral health providers to incorporate evidence-based tobacco dependence treatment into their clinical and community practice.
TRWI envisions a Philadelphia where people with behavioral health challenges are free from tobacco addiction and live long, healthy, and productive lives.
