WELCOME!

About US

 

Comprehensive Health and Family Services was incorporated November 3, 2008, by South Carolina Secretary of State as a nonprofit organization tax-exempted under section 501(c)(3) and has been recognized by the IRS as being tax-exempt by virtue of its charitable programs. 

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services System is a Medical Psychologist Private Practice and a Peer Support Run Organization founded by Dr. Jerome Yelder, Sr. who is a Service Connected Disabled Veteran of the United Marine Corps; Academy of Medical Psychology Board Certified Medical Psychologist, National Board Certified Pastoral Clinical Psychotherapist;  Board Certified Independent Master Chaplain; National Board Certified Pastoral Marriage and Family Therapist;  Board Certified Independent Licensed Ordained Minister; National Board Certified Master Addiction Counselor (NMAC); National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS) and a Certified Peer Support Specialist (CPSS) himself as a vehicle to provide evidence based and lived experience professionals to serve communities throughout the state of South Carolina and Abroad. We provide Community Integrated Behavioral Health Care, Addictions  Recovery and Mental Health Treatment Services in rural and low-income communities utilizing Certified Peer Support Specialist Providers in order to ensure our services are cost effective to the consumer.  We have chartered the South Carolina Peer Specialist Certification Board as a Mental Health Resource of South Carolina that operates publicly as Comprehensive Health and Family Services and is governed by a Board of Directors.  

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Integrative Care

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We have incorporated the Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care to: (1) promote full integration and collaboration in clinical practice between primary and behavioral healthcare; (2) support the improvement of integrated care models for primary care and behavioral health care to improve the overall wellness and physical health status of adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) or children with a serious emotional disturbance (SED); and (3) promote and offer integrated care services related to screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental and substance use disorders, and co-occurring physical health conditions and chronic diseases.

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 Plan of Care (POC) Programs

 

Integrative Management and Care Facilitation-We designed this model of care as a multidisciplinary team approach consisting of behavioral health professionals and medical consultants. In addition to receiving normal care, patients are assessed by a care facilitator who is assigned to identify unmet health care needs and provided information, advice and education for the patients concerning their condition and self care-management.  

 

Intensive Clinical Case Management this program provides in home and community care coordination services to homeless veterans, at-risk youth and families with a clinical focus. Smaller caseloads enable for a high level of service and are focused on family preservation. 

 

Care Coordination & Treatment to assist individuals who reside in a community setting or are transitioning to a community setting to gain access to needed health, behavioral health, social, educational, and other services and supports, such as housing, transportation and entitlement programs. On-call is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

Personal Recovery Oriented Services (PROS) is a comprehensive recovery-oriented program for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. The goal is to integrate treatment, support, and rehabilitation in a manner that facilitates consumers’ recovery.

 

Housing Options vary due to the amount of support an individual may need. Community Residences can house anywhere from 8-50 individuals and is staffed 24/7. Our dedicated staff works intensely with residents in this Medicaid funded program to formulate individualized goals in areas of medication management/training, life skills training, and services/interventions that promote health and wellness. Group living programs are intended to transition residents to more independent settings as soon as possible.

 

Employment Services that assists individuals to secure competitive employment in jobs best suited to their abilities and preferences. Ongoing staff and informal supports are available to help with job retention. Supported employment may include funded by the Department of labor apprentice program for intensive services consisting of job development, placement, situational assessment, job coaching.click on to read the research and report on Peer Specialist)

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(click below to read the research and report on Peer Specialist)

 

Mental Health America on Peer Support  

 

Peer support is generally cost-effective and cost saving. Optum Health, a managed care company, has shown substantial reductions in average inpatient days for people receiving peer support. In two of their managed care contracts, Optum saw an average 80.5 percent reduction of inpatient days, and a 32 percent reduction of involuntary hospitalizations for people receiving peer run respite services (Bergeson, 2013).

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 Additionally, peer support increases the length of time that individuals spend in the community before their first psychiatric hospitalization (Repper & Carter, 2011). Several studies comparing peer staff and non-peer staff providing conventional mental health services have detected consistent differences between the two. Peer-delivered services generate superior outcomes in terms of engaging “difficult to reach” individuals, reduce rates of hospitalization and days spent as inpatient, and decrease substance use among persons with co-occurring substance use disorders. Individuals assigned peer recovery mentors do significantly better in number of hospitalizations and number of days spent in hospitals than control groups with no peer support (Davidson, L. et al, 2012). Other studies indicate that peer support improves symptoms of depression more than care as usual (Pfeiffer et al, 2011).

 

 Participants who receive peer-based services feel that their providers communicate in ways that are more validating and report more positive provider relationship qualities compared with participants in control conditions (Sells et al, 2008). Peer support helps individuals have a sense of hope about recovery. Individuals receiving peer support are more likely to have employment (Repper & Carter, 2011).

 

 Individuals receiving peer support report overall increases in their quality of life (SAMHSA, 2016). RI International (formerly Recovery Innovations of Arizona) employs hundreds of peer specialists to offer peer advocacy services to individuals in the hospital.

 

Their focus on recovery planning and recovery-oriented discharge plans has produced significant improvements, including:

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• 36 percent reduction in the use of seclusion

• 48 percent reduction in the use of restraints

• 56 percent reduction in hospital readmission rates (RI International, 2016) Peer services are effective in assisting individuals self-manage their whole health needs.

 

When trained peers employed by a local community organization provide a variety of services, including connections to social and rehabilitation services, participants with peer support are significantly more likely to make connections to primary medical care (Griswold, 2010). Based on the evidence above and more, peer support is clearly an effective and evidence-based practice. It is cost-saving and improves outcomes for individuals with mental health conditions.

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services System 

​ Our ministries objectives for children and their families is to promote community evidence based services provision of behavioral health, primary care and other services within the context of a system of care that weaves integrative health care and other supports into a coordinated fabric of services to meet the diverse, highly individual needs, and changing health, educational, and supportive needs of children, adolescents, and adults with severe emotional disturbance, untreated serious health conditions due to the lack of income.

 

Comprehensive Health and Family Services System-of-Care model is based on a philosophy built on three hallmark tenets:(1)primary care, behavioral health and mental health service systems are driven by the needs and preferences of the child and family; (2) services are community based; their management is built on multi-agency collaborations; and (3) the services offered, the agencies participating, and the programs generated to meet the integrative health care and other needs of the children, adolescents, adults and their families that are both responsive and sensitive to the cultural context and other characteristics of the populations being served.

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services System have developed a system of care consistent with the theoretical model. A community must focus its developmental and program activities at two distinct levels: (1) infrastructure to house, organize, coordinate, and manage the integration and conduct of program elements; and (2) service delivery to undertake the services and interventions that directly serve and involve children, adolescents, adults and their families.

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services System have created a strategic plan to close the disparities of medical treatment in under served low income communities, activities include 1) provide health, mental health and family services to undeserved low income communities 2) we have established a research focused on health and mental health disparities experienced by racial and ethnic minorities, the rural and urban poor, and other medically under served populations; 3) conduct population-specific community-based research statewide; 4) enhance the capacity to conduct health and mental health disparities research ; 5) establish health and mental health education programs for special populations; and 6) promote the inclusion of women, minorities and other medically under served groups in clinical trials.

 

Comprehensive Health and Family Services System strategic plan and other initiatives, will translate new knowledge into prevention and treatment strategies to improve public health, behavioral health, mental health and family services in low income communities.

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services System strategic plan and other initiatives, will translate new knowledge into prevention and treatment strategies to improve public health, behavioral health, mental health and family services in low income communities.

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Comprehensive Health and Family Services is designated by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services as a Certified Application Counselor Designated Organization (CDO) in Pursuants to 45 CFR 155.2259(b); 45 CFR 155.225(c) ; 45 CFR 155.225(b)(1)(i); 45 CFR 155.225 including but not limited to 45 CFR 155.225(d)(3)-(5).

 

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