Intro | Outreach | Case Management | Outpatient Treatment | Day Center | ISPA South Dade

Outreach

The Camillus organization has a long history of providing services to poor and homeless persons, and over the years has built trust and established significant rapport with the “hard to reach clients” who live on the streets of Miami. Camillus is committed to ensuring that there is “No Wrong Door” for persons to get help, and has established multiple pathways for clients to access services.

In 2002, the organization began to develop and implement a behavioral health outreach model in order to more effectively engage persons who are chronically homeless. A dedicated Behavioral Health Outreach Specialist (BHOS) was hired to target those clients who were not being effectively engaged by existing outreach teams. The BHOS, a mental health professional, has proven extremely successful. For the year ending December 31, 2004, the BHOS made 909 contacts with persons who are homeless living on the streets, an extremely high number for one staff person. Of those 909 contacts, 826 resulted in referrals being made, with 620 of those referrals completed by the client. The success of the BHOS’s efforts can be attributed to the knowledgeable, personalized, and persistent nature of the outreach contacts.