Will's Place Reports Success with ACT-TAY Program

Since its launch in May 2016, Will’s Place is currently treating 25 clients through its Assertive Community Treatment – Transitional Age Youths (ACT-TAY) program. ACT-TAY uses a team-based approach to deliver comprehensive and flexible treatment, support and services. Providing extensive service for individuals in Jasper, Newton, Barton and McDonald counties, ACT-TAY is for those age 16-25 who experience serious mental illness such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

“The purpose of the program is to partner with transitional-age youths struggling to be successful in a traditional mental health setting,” said Melissa Moore, Will’s Place Clinical Director. “The primary goal is to improve their overall physical and behavioral wellness.

That allows us to help them avoid homelessness, hospitalizations and involvement with the legal system.”

Funded by Missouri Department of Mental Health, ACT-TAY helps adolescents and young adults with mental illness move into adulthood by assisting them with recovery and enhancing their resilience. Team members do this by helping clients achieve employment, independent living, stable social relationships and integration into the local community.  Each nine-member team is comprised of a team leader, an advanced practice nurse for medical management, a nurse, a therapist, a qualified addiction professional, a case manager, a vocational specialist, a peer specialist and a program assistant.

“Our team is designed to meet clients where they are in the community, whether that’s at school or on-the job,” said Moore. “We work with our clients to design a plan of action that’s right for them.”

The ACT-TAY office is located inside Thousand Oaks Medical Building at 1905 W. 32nd St., in Joplin, Mo. For more information, call 417.347.7065.

About Ozark Center

An integral component of Freeman Health System based in Joplin, Mo., Ozark Center provides comprehensive behavioral health services to children, adults and families in an area that includes more than 450,000 residents from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Ozark Center continually looks for innovative ways to address the mental health needs of the community and promote awareness of mental illness in an effort to eliminate the discrimination associated with it. For more information, visit ozarkcenter.com or call 417.347.7600.

About Freeman Health System
Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center – the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services – as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. For 2017, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers. U.S. News & World Report ranked Freeman one of the top Hospitals in Southwest Missouri more than four years in a row, and the Leapfrog Group awarded Freeman the highest grade possible in the Fall 2016 Hospital Patient Safety Score. With more than 300 physicians on staff representing more than 60 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart and vascular care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, children’s services and women’s services. Additionally, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com or facebook.com/freemanhealthsystem or follow Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer Paula Baker at twitter.com/freemanceo.