Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)

When a person with a severe mental illness does not respond to traditional outpatient therapy, other approaches may be necessary. The Horizon’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program is an intensive community-based program specifically designed for people who have had difficulty maintaining their recovery. The program provides strategies and coping skills to help individuals manage the challenges of living with a severe mental disorder.

Team Approach
Services are provided using a multidisciplinary team approach in the office and in the community. The treatment team consists of social workers, case managers, nurses, and psychiatrists. Services may include:

Minimum of two weekly contacts with ACT staff
Intensive case management
Integrated health care
Group therapy, individual therapy
Medication management
Peer support services
Coordination with natural supports, external services, community resources, self-help groups
Team approach offering access to several ACT team members that specialize in therapy, housing, employment, and substance use

ACT aims to provide the least restrictive level of care so individuals can remain safely in the community with team-based support. Goals may include:

Gain education
Obtain a job or volunteer position
Create and maintain meaningful relationships
Avoid hospitalization, incarceration
Participate in community activities
Symptom stability and medication adherence
Develop personal, living, and social skills
Manage physical health care services
Access entitlements and benefits

Program Eligibility

1. Diagnosis of severe and persistent mental illness including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, and/or major depressive disorder

2. Symptoms affecting daily life functions

3. Not responsive to traditional outpatient services and has one or more of the following:

Two or more psychiatric inpatient admissions in the past year, or one long-term hospitalization of 180 days or more
Excessive use (two or more visits in a 30-day period) of crisis/emergency services with missed attempts for outpatient service follow-up
Chronic homelessness
Repeat (two or more in a 90-day period) arrests and incarceration for offenses related to mental illness such as trespassing, vagrancy, panhandling, or other minor offenses
Difficulty with medication adherence that requires monitoring and support

4. Requires intensive community support to avoid hospitalization, incarceration

5. Medicaid insurance

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Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)

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ACT Program Eligibility