Adult Mental Health (AMH)

Who We Serve

Resources in the public mental health system for adults are focused on people in crisis, people with serious, disabling or potentially disabling mental illnesses who live in the community, who cannot otherwise access mental health care, and certain people with serious mental illnesses who get involved with the criminal justice system.

Adults in mental health crisis - This group includes people who are 18 or older who:

• Meet criteria under the Baker Act for admission to a mental health receiving facility; or
• Show evidence of a recent stressful event and significant problems coping with that event.

Adults with severe psychiatric disabilities - This group includes people 18 or older who have a diagnosis or diagnostic impression of a mental disorder meeting DSM-III-R Axis I (Primary Psychiatric Diagnosis) or Axis II (Secondary Psychiatric Diagnosis), and who meet any of the following criteria:

• Receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Disabled Veteran Income or other type of disability income due to a psychiatric disability; or
• Receives Social Security Income (SSI) for reasons other than a psychiatric disability and has a serious and persistent mental illness; or
• Has documented evidence of a long term psychiatric disability, and does not need, is unable to apply or refuses to apply for disability benefits; or
• Does not receive disability income due to a psychiatric disability but has applied for disability income that is in process due to psychiatric disability or has received such income in the past five (5) years.

Adults with a serious mental illness and forensic (court) involvement - This group includes people over 18 who meet any of the following criteria:

• Have an "incompetent to proceed (ITP)" court order due to mental illness; or
• Have a "not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI)" court order for evaluation of competency or sanity; or
• Are on conditional release due to a mental illness.