Major Categories of Services for Individuals with Mental Illness and their Family Members
| Type of Service | Recommendations for Finding and Accessing This Service |
| Crisis intervention (crisis numbers; crisis centers; mobile crisis teams) | – Call 911 if there is an immediate danger of physical harm. – Otherwise, call county crisis numbers: Bucks County 800-499-7455 Chester Cty 877-918-2100 Delaware County 855-889-7827 Montgomery Cty 855-634-HOPE (4673) Philadelphia Cty 215-686-4420 – You can also call one of the national hotlines to be referred to the closest crisis center 800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433) or 800-273-TALK (8255) – For resources to help you cope with, prepare for and/or prevent a crisis, see https://namimainlinepa.org/ |
| Psychiatric inpatient (including extended acute-care facilities; 23 hour crisis beds) | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section. |
| Outpatient treatment, including partial hospitalization, day programs, support groups, warm lines, psychiatric rehabilitation services, case management, intensive case management, peer support services, community support and individual therapists | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section. – Consult the Resource Guides listed in section 3. |
| Housing | – See info and advice summarized in https://namimainlinepa.org/housing-options-for-people-living-with-mental-illness/. |
| Benefits (financial support and medical insurance for disabled individuals; publicly supported mental health care) | – See info summarized in https://namimainlinepa.org/info-resources/how-to-get-services/ – Disability Rights Network helps with issues such as how employment affects government benefits – 800-692-7443; http://www.drnpa.org/ |
| Advocates to help when there is a problem with access to or quality of services | – Mental Health Partnerships has advocacy services – 215-751-1800; www.mentalhealthpartnerships.org – PA Health Law Project gives free help to people when their Medicaid and Medicare services are not working well for them – 215-625-3990; www.phlp.org – Community Advocates of Montgomery County (610-270-0375) |
| Legal issues | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section. – For criminal justice, see info summarized in https://namimainlinepa.org/info-resources/criminal-justice-resources/ – PA Institutional Law Project gives legal assistance to consumers in hospitals and prisons – 215-925-2966; www.pailp.org |
| K-12 schooling, transition to independent living, college | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section – Consult the Resource Guides listed in section 3. – PLAN of PA (Planned Lifetime Assistance Network) provides fee-for-service help with the transition to independent living – 610-687-4036; www.planofpa.org |
| Employment and volunteering | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section. – Consult the Resource Guides listed in section 3. |
| Social opportunities and support groups for individuals with mental illness | – Call one of the Help Lines listed in the next section. – Consult the Resource Guides listed in section 3. |
| Support and respite services for family members | – Call one of the NAMI affiliate Help Lines or MHASP; inquire about Family-to-Family education and support program, support groups, and help in resolving individual problems |