OUR CARE

In partnership with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Adult Therapy includes individual, couples’, and family counseling for those affected by trauma, mental illness, or substance abuse, using evidence-based practices and the latest research-supported interventions to restore and improve the quality of life for each individual served.

In partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board and Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Therapy for our littlest clients can be individual or with the whole family, and assists in managing mild to moderate behavioral or emotional needs which can stem from trauma, including school behavior difficulties, adoption related issues, thoughts of suicide or self-harm, abuse histories, and addictions. We teach kids problem solving skills, behavior strategies, and anger management skills, among other therapeutic tools.

In partnership with Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
Directions for Living employs two full-time Licensed Therapists, referred to as Navigators, who are partnered with law enforcement officers to respond to and follow up on mental health-related calls. The newly formed PCSO Mental Health Unit aims to correctly respond to individuals that are coming into frequent contact with law enforcement due to their mental illness. The Unit provides and links them to services that will hopefully lead to a more permanent solution.

Assisted Outpatient Treatment is an intensive wraparound approach to treat individuals who are not following voluntary outpatient treatment resulting in frequent Baker Acts/Arrests due to their mental health issues. In this program, individuals are court-ordered into a 90-day intensive program with the projected outcome that they will be successfully graduated to voluntary outpatient for ongoing support. AOT is a partnership between DFL and Pinellas County Health and Human Services and is a court-ordered
treatment program.

In partnership with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Through case management, we provide recovery-based and individualized supports including assessment, linkage, advocacy, and monitoring for adults and children with a severe and persistent mental illness.

TRACE (Telehealth Remote Access to Crisis Evaluation) is a program that allows Law Enforcement Officers to have immediate access to Directions for Living Counselors while in the field responding to our community’s emergency calls. Our goals include:

• To support officers by providing mental health expertise, assessment, and guidance directly to officers and individuals in crisis in real-time, all at the push of a button.

• To decrease unnecessary Baker Acts and arrests through on-demand mental health assessments, engagement, and access to timely mental health services.

• To help with de-escalation, provide direct linkage to services, and support to individuals experiencing an emergent mental health crisis.

TRACE is one of a few cutting edge new programs rolling out nationwide to support law enforcement when responding to mental health crisis with on-demand telehealth from local behavioral health experts.

In partnership with the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network and the Juvenile Welfare Board
This is a service provided to children or adults seeking testing for a variety of psychological, cognitive, and / or behavioral disorders, from IQ to emotional functioning to autism spectrum tests and more.

In partnership with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Adult Psychiatry evaluates and treats those with acute, mild to severe, and / or chronic emotional or mental illness through medication therapy and monitoring.

In partnership with Juvenile Welfare Board and Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Children’s Psychiatry evaluates and treats children with acute, mild to severe, and / or chronic emotional or mental illness through medication therapy and monitoring, including the treatment of commonly diagnosed childhood disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

In partnership with Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
Facilitated by Recovery Peer Specialists or Counselors, our groups for teens and adults allow clients to share and relate to each other while learning new coping skills, life skills training, addiction supports, and more.

In partnership with Pinellas County
We partner with dozens of locations across the community to provide specialized mental health services so that even more Pinellas County residents have access to Directions for Living’s care. These co-locations include local Departments of Health, shelters, clinics, outreach centers, and more.

In partnership with Clearwater Police Department
Directions for Living staff work on the Mental Health Check Team to help those who are coming into frequent contact with law enforcement due to their mental illness. The team encourages these clients to engage with services that will help provide them stability and treatment.

Directions for Living is proud to partner with Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company, to host a full service in-house pharmacy for the convenience of our clients to fill any or all of their medications. Click here for more information on the pharmacy.

We employ three Certified Recovery Peer Specialists, staff with their own lived experience of having severe mental illness, who assist clients through mentoring, advocacy, and other supports.

In partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board
ECC provides in-home parenting skills training for parents and on-site training for child care personnel. Our Early Childhood Specialists offer training in caring for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers (0-5) and provide coordination to our therapy services for those with more intensive behavioral and emotional problems

In partnership with Juvenile Welfare Board
FIT provides intensive in-home services to parents who are living with a substance use disorder and who are involved with the child welfare system. By providing wrap-around services, FIT assists in reducing the impact parental substance use has on the family, community, and child welfare system. The FIT Team includes a Counselor to address therapeutic needs, a Case Manager to improve parents’ ability to access community resources, and a Peer Recovery Specialist to provide lived-experience mentoring.

BabyCAT is a program that assists children in their first 5 years of life that have been identified by a teacher at one of our partner elementary and early learning schools, Campbell Park Elementary or Kings Highway Elementary, as experiencing a mental, emotional, or behavioral issue that is preventing them from being successful in the classroom. We work to stabilize the child’s behavior by providing intensive in-home services to the entire family and consultation to the teachers.

In partnership with Pinellas County Schools
Treatment Works, created as a result of the Parkland School Shooting and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, is an intensive in-home service working with youth who have been identified by the Pinellas County School System as a threat to either themselves or others. Treatment Works service delivery design is modeled after our innovative diversion model, Family Works. The Integrated Decision Team will identify the needs and resources for the youth and their family and will establish creative and effective safety and treatment plans, delivering the right service at the right time to meet the safety needs of the children to ensure that they are stabilized and prepared to reenter their educational environment.

High Fidelity Wraparound services are intensive supportive services that focus on children and adults who have been involved with two or more systems of care, such as Juvenile Justice or the Child Welfare System. Wraparound is an evidence-based, strength-based, team-supported planning process to help create a highly individualized plan to address an individual or family’s complex emotional and behavioral needs.

In partnership with the Homeless Leadership Board and the Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
We help adults and families living without homes, or at risk of homelessness, by linking them to a variety of resources and providing psychiatric care throughout the community, including at local shelters.

Family Works is a program that assists families in finding permanent, stable housing when a child has been identified by their school as being homeless, housing unstable, or currently residing in emergency shelter or transitional housing. The Family Works model is a strength-based, family- centered safety model designed to help decrease and prevent homelessness by establishing permanent housing for the family.

This program is designed to increase access to SSI/SSDI for adults who are experiencing or are at-risk of homelessness and have a mental illness, medical impairment, and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Directions for Living has four SOAR Benefit Specialists and a SOAR Coordinator for Pinellas County.