Early County Mental Health

Who We Are: Aspire Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability Services is a public, non-profit organization providing mental health, addictive disease, and developmental disability services to citizens in Dougherty, Baker, Calhoun, Early, Lee, Miller, Terrell, Worth Counties.

Aspire Behavioral Health & Developmental Disability is a unit of Albany Area Community Service Board. Albany Area Community Service Board is one of 28 Community Service Boards in the State of Georgia. In 1994, Community Service Boards were created by Georgia Legislators HB101.

Albany Area Community Service Board is a legal entity established by 1993 General Assembly, OCGA 37-2-6 (a). Board members are appointed by the respective county commission. Each county has one representative. Counties are eligible for additional members if their population is 100,000. One additional member from Dougherty County is appointed by the Board to address the variation in financial contributions of the county.

Georgia's Community Services Boards are the pre-eminent providers for children, youth and adults with serious mental illness, developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases. Recent surveys * indicate that:

- Nearly two million Georgians suffered from mental illness and / or addictive disease in the past year

- Over 320,000 experienced a serious mental illness in the past year

- There are over 145,000 adults in Georgia with intellectual / developmental disability

Of these, the Community Service Boards served over 175,000 with high quality, cost effective care to Georgia’s most vulnerable population.

To about the vital contributions of Georgia’s Community Service Boards to help persons with these disabilities go to: http://goo.gl/wqTSf6 * US Department of Health and Human Services and Bethesda Institute

Aspire has a three year accreditation through CARF International which will expire September 2017. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. CARF accreditation signals a service provider's commitment to continually improving services, encouraging feedback, and serving the community. AACSB is a Medicaid / Medicare Provider and is adherent to all Medicaid Eligibility Policies.

Under the direction of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), the agency participates in multiple monitoring, quality improvement activities and evaluations including APS Healthcare Audits and the Georgia Association of CSBs. AACSB staff participate in all trainings and technical assistance opportunities offered by DBHDD.

Mental Health Services Mental health services are aimed at diagnosing and successfully treating adults, children, and adolescents with mental illness and emotional disturbances. The ultimate goal is to provide needed services for individuals consumers to help them recover from their illness, and to function at their highest possible level within the community. Family education, training and therapy are offered to provide additional support for individual recovery. Mental health services include outpatient and residential care such as:

Addictive DiseasesThe primary focus of addiction treatment is the discontinuation of addictive substances by the consumers. Chemical dependency is a primary, progressive, chronic and potentially fatal disease which is treatable. It is an illness that affects the physical, mental and spiritual areas of the addicted person's family, social, and occupational well being. Recovery from addiction is an ongoing process which includes abstinence and the treatment of the whole person. Addictive Diseases Services include:

ASPIRE Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services Aspire provides mental health services to children and adolescents through the Aspire Child and Adolescent Services. Aspire Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Services provide services for children and adolescents with severe emotional, mental and/or behavioral problems. The goal of the program is to prevent out-of-home placements and hospital admissions. A Behavioral Health Services include:

ASPIRE Clubhouse Services Aspire Mental Health Clubhouse is operated by the Albany Area Community Service Board. The Clubhouse is a resiliency program designed for the purpose of providing a safe environment for children and teenagers to learn about their diagnosis and develop valuable life and coping skills and to decrease out-of-home placements and juvenile justice involvement. Clubhouse members have the opportunity to develop healthy functioning relationships with staff and peers.

Developmental Disability ServicesDevelopmental disability services are planned with the individual needs of the person with developmental disabilities in mind. Services keep consumers actively involved in planning their lives and participating as members of the community at home and at work. For those who cannot remain in their own home, services concentrate on health and safety. Developmental disability services offer a comprehensive program which serves citizens in our eight county area. Services include:

Primary Focus of the Provider

• Mix of Mental Health and Substance Abuse

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Type of Care

• Substance abuse treatment
• Accepts clients on opioid medication

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Facility Type

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Treatment Approaches

• Cognitive/behavioral therapy
• Dialectical behavioral therapy
• Substance abuse counseling approach
• Trauma-related counseling

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Facility Smoking Policy

• Smoking not permitted

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Service Setting (e.g., Outpatient, Residential, etc.)

• Outpatient
• Regular outpatient treatment
• Computerized treatment

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Facility Operation (e.g. Private, Public)

• State Government
• State substance abuse agency
• State mental health department
• State department of health
• Commission on Accreditation and Rehabilitation
• National Committee for Quality Assurance

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Payment/Insurance Accepted

• Cash or self-payment
• Medicaid
• Medicare
• State financed health insurance plan other than Medicaid
• Private health insurance
• Military insurance (e.g., TRICARE)

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Emergency Mental Health Services

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Payment Assistance Available

• Sliding fee scale (fee is based on income and other factors)

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Language Services

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Special Programs/Groups Offered

• Persons with co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders
• Adult women
• Adult men
• Transitional age young adults

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Ancillary Services

• Individual counseling offered
• Group counseling offered
• Family counseling offered
• Marital/couples counseling offered
• Brief intervention approach
• Contingency management/motivational incentive
• Motivational interviewing
• Anger management
• Martix Model
• Relapse prevention

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Age Groups Accepted

• Adults

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Gender Accepted

• Female
• Male

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Exclusive Services

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