Mental Health Skill-Building Service (MHSS)

Service Description

Mental health skill building is a comprehensive program designed to help individuals with mental health challenges improve their daily living skills and achieve greater independence. Services are person-centered and tailored to help individuals improve their daily living skills, such as managing your medications, budgeting, and cooking. We will work with you to identify areas where you need support and provide training and coaching to help you build the skills you need to live independently. We aim to aid individuals with developing and strengthening the abilities and coping mechanisms to enable them to better manage their mental health and improve their overall well-being

Eligibility Criteria

Individuals 21 years of age and older shall meet all of the following criteria:

  1. Must have one of the following primary mental health diagnosis

    • Schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder as set out in the DSM 5

    • Major Depressive Disorder

    • Recurrent Bipolar I or Bipolar II

    • Any other other serious mental health disorder that a physician has documented specific to the identified individual within the past year that includes all of the following

      • a serious mental illness

      • results in severe and recurrent disability

      • produces functional limitations in the individual's major life activities that are documented in the individual's medical record

      • and requires individualized training for the individual in order to achieve or maintain independent living in the community

  2. The individual must require individualized goal- directed training in order to acquire or maintain self-regulation of basic living skills such as

    • symptom management

    • adherence to psychiatric and physical health medication treatment plans

    • appropriate use of social skills

    • appropriate use of personal support systems

    • skills to manage personal hygiene

    • food preparation

    • maintenance of personal adequate nutrition

    • money management

    • and use of community resources.

  3. The individual must have a prior history of any of the following:

    • psychiatric hospitalization

    • residential or nonresidential crisis stabilization

    • intensive community treatment (ICT)

    • program of assertive community treatment (PACT) services

    • placement in a psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) as a result of decompensation related to the individual's serious mental illness

    • a temporary detention order (TDO) evaluation

  4. The individual must have a prescription for antipsychotic, mood stabilizing, or antidepressant medications within the last 12 months.

  5. Individuals younger than 21 years of age shall meet all of the above criteria in order to be eligible to receive mental health skill-building services and the following:

    • The individual shall be in an independent living situation or actively transitioning into an independent living situation. (If the individual is transitioning into an independent living situation, Services shall only be authorized for up to six months prior to the date of transition).

      • Independent living situation means a situation in which an individual, younger than 21 years of age, is not living with a parent or guardian or in a supervised setting and is providing his own financial support.