Chicago launches street psychiatry teams to bring mental health treatment to the homeless
The Chicago Department of Public Health on Wednesday launched its first "street psychiatry" teams, in an effort to provide mental health services to some of the city's most vulnerable people.
The Chicago Street Psychiatry teams will be taking mental health treatment to homeless shelters, the CTA, and street corners.
The new street psychiatry teams won't necessarily be going on calls with police or first responders. They'll be taking a more preventative approach, connecting with people on a long-term basis to hopefully keep them from ending up in the system in the first place.
Doctors and public health specialists filled the South Shore Cultural Center on Wednesday to announce the launch of Chicago's first street psychiatry model.
Project leaders with the Chicago Department of Public Health said it's an innovative approach to behavioral health that's relatively uncommon across the country.
Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are among the few cities with similar models so far.
"They're able to engage in those conversations, move into housing. Some of them have gotten employment. So, it really changed their lives," said Chicago Department of Public Health project manager Ryann Billitteri.
Chicago's weather and landscape is something they had to consider when establishing two teams that will work citywide, helping people experiencing homelessness or housing instability and living with complex behavioral health needs.
"Our model built out will include a psychiatrist, a medical doctor, a certified alcohol and drug counselor, a peer, and [a licensed clinical social worker], so like a clinician," Billitteri said.
Goldie Rodriguez, who now works as a peer recovery support specialist, said she's living proof that persistent outreach can be successful.
"I understood I was going through someone who could meet me where I was, show me that change was possible. Today, I've been clean for 17 years," she said.
While the Chicago Street Psychiatry teams launched on Wednesday, project leaders said their work began in the community about a month ago. The teams are now both fully staffed.
"I think a metric of success will be how do we decrease the cost of these individuals to the system, so that we're saving taxpayers money," Billitteri said.
