Profile: Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc

ACTS currently manages an annual budget of over $20,000,000 from a multitude of different funding sources. The agency employs over 550 individuals and provides client services from 15 different sites in the Tampa area (Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee and Pinellas Counties) and 3 sites in Broward County. All ACTS' substance abuse services are licensed under FAC lOE-30 and group caring facilities are licensed under FAC 1OM-9. An independent audit of all of ACTS accounts is performed annually in accordance with state and federal guidelines. Compliance reviews and administrative audits of agency performance are conducted annually by most funding bodies, particularly the Florida Departments of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Children and Families (DC&F) and Community Affairs (DCA), Hillsborough County, the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, the Foundation for Mental Health (Pinellas County), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, etc. Many of the juvenile residential facilities are certified to participate in the Federal School Lunch Program. All DJJ funded programs are reviewed annually by the Department's Quality Assurance program.

ACTS operations are organized into four functional areas, Adult Services, Youth Services, Juvenile Justice Services and Administrative Services. Under Adult Services, ACTS provides a basic continuum of substance abuse treatment services including detoxification (Hillsborough County), residential treatment (1983-Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties), and outpatient services (Hillsborough County), with a special emphasis on pregnant and postpartum women in day treatment services (1987-Hillsborough and Polk Counties). Other Hillsborough County Adult Services include homeless outreach services through the homeless day shelter program (1991) and transitional and independent living (1989-housing) services that specialize in treatment and support of the chronically substance impaired, particularly those with mental illness. In 1997, ACTS became the administrative force behind the Central Florida Behavioral Network (CFBN). This network became the first in the state to be an incorporated non-profit network contracting with the state to provide substance abuse treatment to adults who have lost their treatment benefits through SSI. In addition, ACTS as well as the other providers are able to facilitate HIV/AIDS outreach and intervention to people in treatment and also in the community. Through the CFBN, ACTS contracts to provide substance abuse services to WAGES/TANF recipients and their families (1998). This marks the opportunity for growth for the agency and a stronger relationship with the mental health community. The same year, ACTS began Alternative to Incarceration Program, a residential program that provides pre-trial inmates with an opportunity to enter treatment as opposed to incarceration. In 1999, a collaborative effort of community agencies resulted in the establishment of a transitional housing program with supportive services for disabled veterans and non-veterans. All adult services are available to clients aging out of youth programs as they reintegrate into the community and evidence needs for continuing care recovery or housing assistance.

Programs classified as Youth Services are those designed to provide substance abuse treatment and provide for the care of youth in the state's dependency system (DC&F). ACTS' dependency contracted services include a girls' foster care group home in Ft. Lauderdale and a boys' home in Tampa. The substance abuse treatment capability includes an Addictions Receiving Facility (ARF) (an emergency assessment, stabilization and detoxification program co-located with the Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) in Tampa), residential treatment services (Hillsborough and Polk Counties), outpatient services (Tampa) and intensive day treatment services Polk County). Over the past several years, ACTS has acquired a full range of experiences that uniquely qualify the agency to assume operational responsibilities for the IRT. The following narratives serve to highlight those experiences.

Since 1985, ACTS has been providing services to juveniles and their families, many of whom are involved in Florida's dependency and delinquency service systems. The original services, which still operate today, included outpatient and residential substance abuse treatment (22 beds today) programs.