CART is a partnership of consumers and providers that dialogue regularly about improvements that could be made in existing behavioral health services. This dialogue will result in the best possible services for consumers who will become empowered to make choices and participate in their own recovery. Consumers and families have long advocated for their inclusion in the evaluation of the quality of their mental health services. With the advent of managed care for Medicaid recipients, consumer satisfaction has been emphasized as a key indicator of service quality.
The CART process supports comprehensive, coordinated and integrated care which is community based, treats the person in a holistic manner, and takes into account the need for housing, education, work, social activities, and treatment options. CART identifies unmet needs in the above categories and reports these to individual providers, the county and CCBHO.
Background
CART began interviewing consumers about their satisfactions and dissatisfactions with behavioral health services in September 1998 as a collaborative project of NAMI Southwestern PA and Renaissance Center, Inc. On January 1, 2002 CART became solely a project of NAMI Southwestern Pennsylvania. Funding is provided by Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Community Care Behavioral Health Organization (CCBHO).
CART believes that:
- All people can be equipped with skills (social, vocational, problem solving, daily living, education, interpersonal and others).
- Communication between providers and consumers can promote family involvement and improvements in quality of life.
- Consumers should be treated with dignity and respect and enabled to be a part of treatment decisions.
- Service is based on and responsive to the needs and wishes of the recipient -- based on the unique needs and environment of each person -- rather than the needs of the system
- All people have underutilized human capacity that should be developed.
Contact CART
Staff List
Consumer Action & Response Team of Allegheny County
938 Penn Avenue, Suite # 501, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-7333 or Toll-Free: 1-800-300-6026