The Center for Mental Health Outreach

Dedicated to Improving Mental Health Care for the Underserved in the Nation’s Capital

The Center for Mental Health Outreach was created to enhance mental health care for the underserved in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Sustained by a generous contribution from the Naiomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation in 2002, and ongoing individual donations, grants and contractual agreements, the Center lends support to the Department’s long-standing tradition of providing outstanding community service, clinical care, academic leadership, education and research. Recognized both locally and nationally, Georgetown University Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry has gained a reputation for serving the community with compassion.

Who We Serve:

• Immigrants
• Homeless
• Uninsured
• Underserved populations with psychiatric problems and substance use disorders
• Individuals who have encountered the criminal justice system

Responding to the Need

MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS represent the four leading causes of disability… major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder… and impact the course and treatment of medical conditions. Furthermore, access to mental health care is often limited, especially for individuals without insurance. The Center partners with local agencies and jurisdictions to help bring mental health services into primary care settings and to provide education to students, providers and professionals in the community.

PSYCHIATRY AND THE LAW… Interaction between individuals with mental illness and the criminal justice system pose problems that manifest throughout incarceration settings, courts and the community. The Center provides consultation to local government, court and elected officials regarding the interface of mental illness in the criminal justice system; coordinates public programs that offer education and training in forensic psychiatry to clinicians, attorneys, law students and community members; and facilitates court ordered juvenile competency evaluations.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The Center trains medical professionals at all levels to recognize and treat mental health problems. It provides local schools, government agencies, associations, social service organizations, primary care facilities and their staffs with lectures, workshops and other presentations on mental health topics that will help them to respond properly to the mental health issues of their clientele. The Center plans programs and convenes providers, consumers and family members to promote mental health advocacy, raise general awareness and increase public understanding about depression, anxiety, trauma and other forms of mental illness.

CONSULTATION
Center professionals consult with elected officials, city leaders, organizational administrators, program directors and front-line workers about individual, systematic, infrastructure and capacity building issues in the delivery of mental health services to underserved populations.

EVALUATIONS
The Center assists other service providers to evaluate the effectiveness of traditional and innovative mental health programs.

CLINICAL CARE
The Center extends clinical care to the underserved through service collaborations with other departments, agencies, organizations and institutions.

RESEARCH
The Center works closely with the Center for Trauma and the Community, housed in the Department of Psychiatry at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Center for Trauma conducts research that focuses on how to deliver effective low-cost mental health interventions in primary care and social service settings to women and their families who have been exposed to traumatic events.

The Center for Mental Health Outreach partners with individuals, organizations and communities to provide effective mental health services and to deliver and sustain the highest quality of care.

 
GUH’S DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY provides comprehensive outpatient, partial hospitalization and inpatient psychiatric treatment through more than 15,000 visits each year staffed by faculty experts. Outpatient specialty programs include Mood/ Anxiety, Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychopharmacology, Geriatric Psychiatry, and Child/ Adolescent Psychiatry. The Department offers residency training programs that trains 24 residents across all four years. In addition, the Department offers fellowship programs in Psychosomatic Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry.

DEPARTMENT SPECIALTIES

• Community Psychiatry
• Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Geriatric Psychiatry
• Child/ Adolescent Psychiatry
• Mental Health in Primary Care Settings

CENTER LEADERSHIP
Director
Carol L. Alter, M.D. – Associate Professor and Director, Policy and Community Outreach, Department of Psychiatry

Administrative Director
Sandra Perlmutter

Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry
Steven A. Epstein, M.D.

Leaders in the Department of Psychiatry play key roles in the Center and have demonstrated strength in developing and promoting strategic opportunities, innovative partnerships, expert education, training and care. In addition, local and regional organizational leaders and activists who serve on the Department of Psychiatry’s “Community Outreach Advisory Council,” provide the Center with ongoing advice and counsel.

Key Partnerships Have Included:

• DC Department of Mental Health
• District of Columbia Primary Care Association
• Primary Care Coalition, Inc. of Montgomery County
• Department of Health and Human Services, Montgomery County, MD
• Department of Family Medicine- Georgetown University
• Center for Applied Legal Studies- Georgetown University Law School
• Georgetown Center for Trauma and the Community
• Pathways to Housing
• Saint Elizabeths Hospital
• Washington Psychiatric Society
• District of Columbia Psychological Association
• NAMI DC
• Criminal Justice Coordinating Council
• Council for Court Excellence
• Proyecto Salud Clinic
• Holy Cross Hospital - Health Center
• Mercy Hospital – Medical Center

Center for Mental Health Outreach
For more information,
please call 202.687.0949 or
e-mail PSY@gunet.georgetown.edu