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Mental Health Services Descriptions

Mental Health Crisis Intervention and Assessment Services

Emergency Services is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for persons in crisis or experiencing a mental health emergency. It offers crisis intervention and stabilization, and evaluation for referrals to crisis care facilities, emergency shelters, and hospitals. The telephone number for Emergency Services is 703-573-5679, the Emergency Services TTY number is 703-207-7737.

Mobile Crisis Unit responds to requests from Police, Fire and Rescue, and other agencies to provide on-site intervention, screening and referrals to hospitals and crisis care facilities. It also offers stress debriefings for police, fire and rescue, and hospital personnel involved in traumatic events, as well as crisis intervention to disaster victims and their families.

Entry & Referral Services are the initial contact point for mental health assessments and resources, where information and referral to appropriate services are provided, as well as the scheduling for initial evaluations for all Outpatient and Case Management Services. The telephone number for Entry & Referral is 703-481-4230 and the TTY is 703-481-4110.

Mental Health Forensic Services

Forensic Services Unit is staffed by a team of clinicians who are deployed to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. These staff provide a range of assessment, counseling, and treatment services to individuals who are incarcerated or face criminal charges before the Fairfax County courts. Forensic Services are provided by three teams: 

• Crisis Intervention Team provides assessment, diagnosis, and management of suicidal and/or mentally disordered offenders.
• Community Corrections Team provides mental health services to offenders selected to participate in prerelease transitional programming.
• Forensic Evaluation Team conducts court-ordered evaluations for indigent clients who are either incarcerated or released to the community.

Mental Health Outpatient Services

These programs provide assessment and treatment for children and adults who are not in need of emergency intervention. The services for adults include individual, couples, family and group therapy, medication management and targeted outreach/support programs for persons with mental illness. The services for children and youth include individual, family, group therapy, play therapy, child guidance, parenting skills, and medication management.  Consultation and assessment concerning issues of abuse, neglect, and criminal actions are offered to the Court system. Discharge planning services are provided to children and youth returning to the community from hospitals.

Specialized Programs are offered to persons with additional special needs; such as those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have brain injury or HIV, persons with coexisting alcohol, drug, or intellectual disability concerns, or home-bound elderly. Multicultural services for individuals are also offered.

Mental Health Community Support Programs

Community Support Programs:  The Community Support Programs provide a range of integrated treatment, case management, medications services, hospital discharge planning, outreach and family education and support to adults with serious and persistent mental illness and have a history of psychiatric hospitalizations. Many of these consumers present co-occurring alcohol and drug abuse, mental retardation, or neurological impairments.

Specialized support for Comprehensive Services Act for Children:  The Mental Health Resource Team provides liaison, assessment and case management support for children, youth, and families who are not receiving treatment services from the CSB. Many of the families are involved with other agencies, and the Resource Specialist participates in the process of the Child Specific Team. Team members, in cooperation with other agency representatives, provide support to families seeking placement and treatment services as well as discharge planning for those returning from hospitals and residential placements.

Mental Health Day Support Services

These programs provide intensive treatment, vocational support or psychiatric rehabilitation services for persons with serious mental illness or emotional disturbance who require continuous support to live independently in the community. These services include:

• Adolescent Day Treatment Program provides intensive treatment, education and family intervention for emotionally disturbed youth to prevent hospitalization or a placement outside of their homes. It also assists adolescents and their families in the transition from psychiatric hospitalization to the community.
• Adult Day Treatment Program provides short-term, intensive, highly structured treatment to persons 18 years and above at-risk of being hospitalized or in the process of being discharged from a hospital.
• Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program provides social and interpersonal skills training, family support, and vocational and educational opportunities for persons who require continuous support to function independently in the community.
• Vocational Services provides an array of employment options for consumers who cannot, without assistance, readily integrate into the workplace.

Mental Health Residential Treatment Programs

Residential treatment programs are 24-hour residential treatment programs for children and adults whose mental health disabilities prevent them from functioning independently in the community. The duration and level of intensity varies to meet the individual needs.

For children and adolescents, the range of services include:

• Leland House, a short-term psychiatric crisis care residential program for youth ages 12-17 who are experiencing a psychiatric-emotional-behavioral crisis;
• Alternative House, a two-week shelter which provides crisis intervention and stabilization services to runaways and other troubled teenagers;
• Sojourn House, a six-to-twelve-month treatment program for adolescent girls.

For adults, the following programs are provided:

• Crisis Care facilities, short-term psychiatric stabilization programs which provide an alternative to hospitalization;
• Transitional Residential Programs, short-term programs for adults returning to the community from psychiatric hospitalizations;
• Permanent Group Homes, supervised residences for persons who cannot live independently in the community;
• Domiciliary Care, individualized residential services for consumers with special needs.

Mental Health Residential Support Programs

Residential Support programs programs provide services to adults who suffer from severe mental illness and/or substance abuse problems and require support to live independently in the community. The duration and intensity of services vary to meet the individual needs. In general, these programs offer a less intensive level of supervision than the ones described above and require from the residents some independent living skills. Also, most of the programs in this category offer permanent placements. 

• In the Supervised Apartment Programs, the services are provided to residents living in apartments leased or owned by the County. 
• In the Supported Living Programs, the services are provided to consumer living in their own apartments.
• The Homeless Services Programs offer mental health intervention to homeless persons and families.

Mental Health Inpatient Services

An inpatient program at the Mount Vernon Hospital's Psychiatric Unit provides acute/intensive services through short-term inpatient care and rapid return to community living for acutely and severely ill individuals.