People with chronic, severe mental illnesses who have often gone without treatment and find themselves among the homeless, in jail, or in mental health hospitals show remarkable improvements through Kitsap Mental Health Services’ Program for Assertive Community Treatment, or PACT Team.

KMHS was invited to provide testimony before the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services on the effectiveness of its PACT Team. The KMHS program is one of 10 sites in Washington State funded to provide this mental health service designed to be a ‘hospital without walls.’The KMHS PACT program ranked as one of the best in the State.

By tracking the annual hospitalization rate for 12 persons prior to receiving KMHS PACT services, and following the hospitalization rate for the same 12 individuals for one year while in PACT services, the program demonstrated an 85% reduction in hospitalizations. A cost analysis through reduction in hospitalizations resulted in an overall savings of $677,299! Considering that KMHS receives only $650,000 to operate the PACT Team, this means the reduced hospitalizations not only paid in full for our 11 member multidisciplinary PACT Team, but also saved an additional $27,299 above and beyond operating and staffing costs. That is a significant return on the dollar, and a benefit to the clients who would likely have gone without much needed mental health services. The cost analysis shows an investment in community mental health centers and evidence-based program are highly cost effective and more importantly, make our communities a better place to live for all.

For more information about the PACT Team, contact Rochelle Doan, Director of Development and Community Relations, Kitsap Mental Health Services at (360)415-5871 or go to KMHS’ website, http://www.kitsapmentalhealth.org/.