Southern California Health & Rehabilitation Program (SCHARP)Treatment for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness. - SCHARP, a full service health and behavioral health organization located in Los Angeles (LAC), will serve 65 individuals per year (325 over the grant period) who are over 18; meet the FOA definition of homelessness; are diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) or Co-occurring SMI and substance abuse disorders (COD); and are referred by the LAC County Department Health Services (DHS) upon expected release from the LAC Jail. The project will enhance the skills of providers, coordinate referral and increase retention in evidence-based, integrated health and behavioral health treatment, housing, employment and recovery supports in SPA 6 (South Central Los Angeles), the city’s most impoverished area and home to two of LAC’s largest Hispanic and four of its largest African American / Black communities. The project will utilize Evidence Based Practices consistent with its goal to promote returnees’ stability in health and behavioral health in permanent housing: these include Housing First, Integrated Dual Disorders Treatment / Assertive Community Treatment (IDDT/ACT), Motivational Interviewing, Peer Recovery Support Services (PRSS), and Seeking Safety, which have a strong evidence base for effectiveness with individuals with SMI and COD who are homeless; males and females from 18-65; and with racially/ ethnically diverse populations including Black / African American, Hispanic / Latino, White, and American Indian communities. SCHARP’s substantial contracted resources will support this project: existing contracts with LAC Department of Mental Health and Department of Health Services will support rental housing subsidies for each returnee, psychiatric services, psychiatric nursing, and IDDT/ACT Care Coordination. California’s Medicaid Program will support required health and behavioral health clinical services. Grant funds will support the Project Director; a dedicated COD Counselor, a Housing Specialist; an Employment Specialist; Peers (PRSS); and contracted Evaluation services. Grant supported staff will build fully integrated services that touch on every domain of need and service. In all hiring, SCHARP requires qualified, diverse candidates and seeks qualified candidates with lived experience to fill positions to ensure that staff are familiar with the culture of the population of focus. Goal 1: Provide evidence-based and seamless SMI, COD and health care through a person-centered Individual Service Plan implemented in partnership with each returnee through a consistent multi-disciplinary IDDT / ACT team. Goal 2: Improve housing stability and re-integration through care coordination, Peer Recovery Support Services (PRSS) and linkage to employment / housing supports. Goal 3: Improve infrastructure for coordination across systems. SAE-BHE, which has evaluated 32 SAMHSA grants since 2005, will utilize the IDDT Readiness Assessment and the IDDT Fidelity Monitoring Instrument to assist staff in collecting, analyzing and reporting required SAMHSA GPRA data, assessing Project Performance, in trouble shooting and in continuous quality improvement to ensure success over the course of grant implementation.
