The Division of Forensic Mental Health Services includes Forensic Mental Health and the Children's System of Care.
The Erie County Forensic Mental Health Service provides direct services to the criminal justice system and justice involved individuals. Services include the psychiatric evaluation of individuals detained for trial or prior to sentencing, and the care and follow-up treatment of mentally ill individuals under the jurisdiction of the Courts, Erie County Department of Probation and the Erie County Sheriff's Division of Jail Management, which includes the Erie County Correctional Facility and the Erie County Holding Center.
Also within the Division of Forensic Mental Health Services is the Erie County Adult Single Point of Access (SPOA), which provides timely access to community-based Care Management, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), and/or Housing services and supports for adults with severe mental illness.
The Erie County Children's Mental Health Service provides direct and indirect services for the local Children's System of Care. Services include performing screenings, assessments, triage and linkage to intensive community-based services and evaluations for juvenile justice and diagnostic assessments for Family Court.
ADULT FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES OBJECTIVES:
- Provide psychiatric evaluation and treatment on an outpatient or in-custody basis of individuals to determine competency and treatment recommendations, as ordered by the courts.
- Provide advocacy and linkage for justice involved individuals to community mental health services, as well as identify and prioritize seriously mentally ill individuals for enrollment in Care Coordination Services, Medication Grant Program, and appropriate levels of community based services.
- Maintain and enhance mental health services through Quality Assurance and Quality Improvement (QA/QI), as well as provide interventions in order to address the needs of specific populations (i.e. Constant Observation, Residential Treatment Unit, Stabilization Treatment Unit, Veterans, female housing).
- Support and enhance training, staff education, and knowledge surrounding evidence-based interventions(s) to maintain relevant and best practice(s) while improving service delivery.
CHILDREN'S SYSTEM OF CARE OBJECTIVES:
- Provide mental health screenings, triage, linkages, psychiatric consultation and community resources informative to Probation, Youth Services, Secure Detention, and other child serving systems..
- Provide clinical administrative and quality assurance oversight to the County's Children's Single Point of Access (CSPOA), PINS Diversion Family Services Team, and Juvenile Delinquency Services Team to assist families in stabilizing their home environments and prevent youth from penetrating further into the juvenile justice system.
- Support the practice of High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) as the best practice service model for local Child Welfare Preventive Services to meet the requirements of Family First mandates.
- Educate County and community partners and parents on Medicaid reform, continuing to assist them in navigating access to services and seeking system solutions to challenges of access to and gaps in care.