The New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) announces the availability of funds for the development of one (1) Older Adult Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team: one (1) size 48 capacity team in the Bronx. The ACT team will serve older adults who have Serious Mental Illness (SMI) and have not been successfully engaged by the traditional mental health treatment and rehabilitation system in NYS.

ACT is a multidisciplinary, evidence-based, team approach to providing comprehensive and flexible treatment, support, and rehabilitation services. ACT teams are configured to have a low individual-to-staff ratio or no more than 10 individuals to each staff (10:1) with professional staff including members from the fields of psychiatry, nursing, psychology, social work, substance use, employment/education, and peers. A majority of services are provided by ACT staff directly (not brokered) and in the community or where the individual lives. In this way, newly acquired skills are applied in their real-world environment and situations. ACT is designed to be flexible and responsive to the needs of individuals, offering support 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week. ACT is “assertive” and intentional in its engagement methods, incorporating individual choice, cultural competences, concrete services, consistency, and persistence. Finally, ACT is structured to provide a review during team meetings of every individual on the ACT team’s caseload. This level of accountability allows for immediate changes in service planning and leads to improved outcomes.

ACT teams strive to develop a culturally sensitive understanding of each individual and their family’s personal preferences (i.e., preferred pronoun, spiritual practices). Additionally, ACT teams take into account social determinants as they are domains likely to have inherent disparities (healthcare access, housing, employment status, food security). ACT teams provide on- going opportunities for individuals to share their culture with others. ACT staff elicit and accept individuals’ personal religious or spiritual practices and leverage this information to support self-directed recovery goals.

ACT teams serve adults who are diagnosed with a SMI. These individuals may also be high users of emergency and/or crisis services, have co-occurring substance use disorders, are isolated from community supports (including family), in danger of losing their housing/becoming homeless, homeless, and/or have histories of involvement with the criminal justice system.

The expansion of ACT to older adults represents a commitment by the NYS OMH to develop ACT teams designed to better meet the needs of specific populations, e.g., increasing access to an evidence-based practice for adults with SMI who have high continuous needs that are not met in traditional community-based services. As this expansion moves forward, there are several principles that inform the overall process, including:

• Promoting the concepts of recovery and the power of individual choice.
• Supporting the seamless integration of individuals into the communities in which they have chosen to live. ACT teams are expected to become experts in the natural supports available to recipients so that full community integration is possible.
• Supporting individuals to develop a vocational or educational plan that will provide a path to independence.
• Supporting adults who may have limited social or family support to strengthen existing family relationships, including their family of choice.
• Reviewing and attempting to mitigate the effects of discrimination based on the client’s demographic identity (gender, sexual identity, race, ethnicity). Team shows sensitivity towards individuals’ personal stories as they may relate to oppression and inequality.
• Ensuring service access by managing ACT referrals through the Local Government Unit (LGU) Single Point of Access (SPOA) system.
• Ensuring the continuous quality improvement of ACT services through regular monitoring of treatment/rehabilitation outcomes by both the ACT agency and NYS OMH.
• Facilitating continuity of care from the ACT team to the community when transitioning off ACT; and
• Utilizing data to inform continuous program improvement.

The full RFP can be found at: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/rfp/

All applicants must be Prequalified by the due date/time of the RFP.

All applications/proposals must be submitted through the Grants Gateway.