Services and Programs

Services and Programs

The Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania's (MHASP) services and programs provide vital information and social and vocational supports to child, adolescent and adult consumers of mental health services and their families.

Many of the programs are run by consumers, based on the principle that self-help and mutual support are empowering and that the best helpers for those in need are often those who have experienced similar problems.

View a complete list of all services and programs at MHASP, or locate a specific service or program from the list below:

Vocational Programs
Community Support
Advocacy
Community and Family Education
Residential and Treatment Services
Age Related Services

In most cases, consumers participate in MHASP programs through a referral by either a case manger or their county's office of mental health. One major exception is MHASP's nine consumer centers, which are open to anyone who simply wants to "drop in" and spend time in a warm and accepting atmosphere.

Vocational Programs

Vocational Programs help consumers prepare for part- or full-time employment. MHASP vocational programs teach job-readiness skills, including interviewing and resume writing techniques and how to dress appropriately. They also offer internships and ongoing support and counseling after a person finds employment. MHASP also works to recruit employers who will commit to providing employment to people with a mental illness.

Vocational programs:

Community Support

Community Support programs in Philadelphia and its suburbs offer assistance to help consumers make it day-to-day in their communities.

Some offer social activities and a welcoming place to spend otherwise lonely hours, while others offer more structured support, including case management or financial assistance. Some programs offer support services, while others are designed to meet the needs of specific groups of people, ranging from the homeless who are not currently receiving mental health services to adults who consider themselves to be in recovery from their illness.

Community Support programs:

Advocacy

When MHASP was founded in 1951, advocacy meant working to improve conditions for the thousands of people then residing in psychiatric institutions. Today, MHASP's mission has grown to include both individual and systems advocacy on a host of issues concerning people with mental illnesses who live outside institutions.

Advocacy programs:

Community and Family Education

MHASP offers Community Education programs intended to provide information to consumers trying to learn how to deal with the non-treatment issues they encounter in their own lives. Other Community Education programs help family members and others better understand and cope with the involvement with someone who has a mental illness. Still others are intended to assist consumers, family members and professionals involved in running community support programs. Some Community Education programs include an advocacy component.

Community and Family Education programs:

Residential and Treatment Services

MHASP operates Residential and Treatment programs that help consumers of mental health services successfully make the transition into appropriate residential placements. Some MHASP programs provide pre-selected consumers with an appropriate place to live.

Residential and Treatment programs:

Age-Related Services

Mental illness can occur at any time in one's life. The symptoms of mental illness, however, often present themselves differently in children, adolescents and older adults, and as a result are frequently misunderstood and even ignored. MHASP offers programs that attempt to correct this problem and address the special needs of children, adolescents and their families and older adults.

Age-related programs: