Assertive Community Treatment

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) is a form of community support designed to achieve the best outcomes for people with the most complex and challenging conditions.

ACT clients all have a severe and persistent mental illness, co-occurring with one or more of substance abuse disorders, a history of chronic homelessness, and medical disorders. ACT services have been demonstrated to be successful for clients who have a history of frequent, but ineffective, health interventions.

What distinguishes ACT services from typical community support is the composition of the teams. With special support from the Department of Mental Health (DMH), these teams feature at least:

• A psychiatrist who treats all clients on the team.
• A nurse who manages medications and provides self-care education.
• A substance abuse specialist who works closely with clients to provide appropriate interventions and education.
• A vocational specialist who assists clients seeking to return to school and/or to gain employment.
• A community support worker who assists with housing, coordinates all care and provides any necessary support.

Through the intensive, centralized services provided by the ACT team, people who have been poorly served by other models of care have returned to school, reunited with family, and sustained stable housing.

Places for People features three ACT teams: the HOME Team, Tikkun, and ACT, serving hundreds of people annually.