| Kitsap Mental Health Services’ new Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) just received the highest rating in the state for new PACT teams. PACT is an evidence-based practice (its success is well supported by research) and is designed to help persons diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness attain and maintain community tenure. This new team became fully functional on July 1, 2007, as a result of funding provided by the Washington State Mental Health Division (MHD) to start PACT teams across the state.
The MHD’s initial visit to the team was to assess the team’s adherence to the PACT model. Their initial report, finalized last month, documents its findings and recommendations on a 48-point fidelity scale, with each item rated on a 5-point scale, ranging from 1 (not implemented) to 5 (fully implemented). According to the MHD, expectations for new teams such as KMHS’ would be to average scores in the mid-twos. The overall fidelity rating for the new KMHS PACT team from this initial review is 4.02, the highest in the state.
The KMHS PACT team is one of ten new teams funded by the state legislature and is designed to reduce the frequency and duration of hospital stays, while providing the best possible community-based services to community mental health center clients.
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