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 Karen Lee, M.A.
Executive Director
Assertive Community Treatment Program (ACT)
The Community Support Network is an assertive case
management and support program for people with severe
and persistent psychiatric disabilities. The CSN mission
is to meet the needs of individuals with chronic and
severe mental illness residing in the Springfield area.
ACT is a very specialized evidence-based model of
treatment/service delivery in which a multi-disciplinary team assumes
ultimate accountability for a small, defined caseload of seriously mentally
ill adults and becomes the single point of responsibility for that caseload.
While encompassing a full range of case management activities, ACT is not
just an intensive form of case management. It is a unique treatment model
in which the majority of direct services are provided internally by the CSN
faculty in the client's community environment. The ACT model combines
clinical and case management services, providing direct assistance with
symptom management as well as facilitating a more supportive environment
by direct assistance in meeting basic needs and improving social, family, and
environmental functioning.
Services Include:
- Advocating on behalf of patients
- Crisis intervention
- Medication training and monitoring
- Training in daily living skills
- Educating regarding symptom management
- Representative payee services and assisting with money management
- Facilitating access to health care
- Helping with transportation needs
- Help finding and keeping safe, affordable housing
- Home visits
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Group family psychoeducation
Population Served
Our services are available to patients who have a diagnosis of a severe and
persistent mental illness, difficulty functioning independently in the community,
and have had multiple psychiatric hospitalizations. The goal of the CSN
Program is to help patients remain out of the hospital and improve their quality
of life in the community. Services are limited to 75 individuals.
Karen Lee, M.A., Executive Director, and Jeffrey Bennett, M.D., Medical Director,
direct the program. Services are provided by a clinical coordinator, five case
managers, one financial case manager, one vocational specialist, and two nurses.
CSN also provides training to psychiatric residents, medical students, psychiatry
nursing students and graduate level counseling students.
Hours and Appointments
CSN staff may be contacted by calling 217-545-8251. The clinic hours are
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. with emergency coverage provided 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. Call 217-545-5880 for after-hour emergencies.
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