This page is for providers involved in Community Support Programs (CSPs).
CSPs adhere to these Wisconsin rules and regulations:
It is no longer necessary for CSPs to submit the name, educational background, and work experience for clinical coordinators to the DHS Division of Quality Assurance for review and approval. It is the responsibility of CSPs to ensure that their clinical coordinators meet the qualifications specified in Wis. Admin. Code DHS § 63.06(2)(c). A CSP should maintain written documentation of a staff person's qualifications and should make that information available for inspection by clients and by DHS as specified in Wis. Admin. Code DHS § 63.06(1)(b). Email the Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) at DHSDQAMentalHealthAODA@dhs.wisconsin.gov if you have questions regarding this information.
CSPs may request a waiver to use an advanced practice nurse prescriber as outlined in Wis. Admin. Code DHS § 63.05. More information on how to do this is listed in DCTS Action Memo 2023-20/DQA Memo 23-005 (PDF).
We invite any professionals involved in CSPs to join monthly virtual meetings. We talk about program operations and solutions to any challenges.
CSP meetings are the second Friday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Each year, we conduct a survey of all CSPs across the state. Reports are published summarizing the annual survey results.
The yearly CSP survey asks each program to report on the evidence-based practices (EBPs) they’ve offered. Any EBP that you report should match the description in the EBP toolkits. We link to these below.
Some survey questions also ask if the program tracked the fidelity of each EBP they used. Refer to the tools and methods (below) and the toolkits to determine if fidelity is monitored for an EBP.
Expand each section to learn more about the EBP.
ACT is a team-based approach to providing treatment, rehab, and support services. ACT models of treatment are built around a self-contained, complete team. They are the fixed point of responsibility for patient care, serving a set group of clients. This approach is often used with clients who have severe mental illnesses. The treatment team provides all services with a highly integrated approach to care.
With ACT, there are low caseloads and many services in a range of settings. ACT is different from Intensive Case Management.
Critical elements of ACT include:
As described by Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences: “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) was initially developed as an individual treatment, and later as a group-based intervention, to reduce the distress associated with the symptoms of psychosis and to improve functioning. Studies have demonstrated that CBTp can result in decreased positive symptoms, improvement in negative symptoms, and improved functioning. In addition, there is evidence to suggest CBTp can be effective in preventing, or delaying, the transition to full psychosis when used with individuals identified as being at risk of developing psychosis.”
Critical elements of CBTp include:
Creation of the therapeutic alliance establishing rapport between client and clinician and agreeing on treatment goals.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Zen Buddhism. Created by Marsha Linehan, it was originally used to treat borderline personality disorder. Today, it is used to treat many different emotional dysregulation and impulse control disorders and symptoms.
DBT is made up of skills that help individuals regulate emotions, improve relationships, and withstand times of distress without impulsivity. The learned skills take practice to incorporate into one’s daily life. The goal of DBT is to build a life worth living.
Critical elements of DBT include:
E-IMR is a newer model. It combines care for mental health and substance use disorders using two established EBPs:
With this EBP, providers share language and proven strategies when giving care to people with co-occurring disorders. E-IMR helps find the interaction between substance use and mental illness. It gives the provider and client skills to address both disorders. It can take place in either mental health or substance use treatment settings.
E-IMR is different from advice related to self-care. It is a full, systematic approach. This EBP helps people understand and gives them skills to be an agent in their own recovery.
Critical elements of E-IMR include a specific curriculum with modules on:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
Family psychoeducation is offered as part of an overall clinical treatment plan. It’s meant to help people with mental illness achieve the best possible outcomes. This happens through active involvement of the family in treatment and management. Families also get support in their efforts to aid the recovery of their loved one. This program may be either multifamily or single-family focused.
Core features of family psychoeducation programs include:
Critical elements of family psychoeducation include:
The EBP of family psychoeducation must involve a clinician as part of clinical treatment. This sets this EBP apart from others like it.
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
IMR, also called illness management or wellness management, is a set of rehabilitation methods. The goal is to teach people with mental illness effective strategies for working actively with professionals to manage their illness. This helps:
IMR is different from advice that relates to self-care. It’s a comprehensive, systematic approach to helping a person be an agent for their own recovery.
Critical elements of IMR include:
More specific EBRs that fall under IMR include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
IPS refers to the EBP of supported employment. This helps people living with behavioral health conditions work regular jobs they choose. IPS is based on the principle that work promotes recovery and wellness. IPS is not prevocational training, sheltered work, or employment in enclaves. Instead, it:
Critical elements of IPS include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
IDDTs mix mental health and substance use interventions at the clinical level. This means the same clinicians or team of clinicians, in the same setting, provide the right mental health and substance use interventions all at once. For the patient, this makes services appear seamless. There’s a consistent approach, philosophy, and recommendations. IDDT removes the need to negotiate with separate teams or programs. The goal of IDDT is to help the patient recover from two illnesses. It differs from coordination of clinical services across provider agencies.
Critical elements of IDDT include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
There’s not an explicit definition of medication management. It’s different than medication prescription administration that happens without the minimum critical elements (outlined below). Core features include:
MedTEAM is one example of an EBP for medication management.
Critical elements of medication management include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
MI is a “collaborative, goal-oriented style of communication with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for and commitment to a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.” MI differs from stages of change, a manipulative way of tricking people into change, and client-centered therapy.
Fidelity is measured through the direct coding of practice samples. It’s defined in terms of basic and advanced standards for skills measures. These include:
There also are global measures to look at overall MI practice.
MI resources include:
Critical elements of MI include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
PSH includes services to help people find and keep suitable housing. This EBP was founded on the idea that some people can live by themselves in the community only if they have support staff for monitoring or helping with residential responsibilities. Staff help clients find, get, and keep safe, decent, affordable housing. At the same time, they keep clients linked to other essential services in the community. PSH differs from residential treatment services and a component of case management.
PSH is a specific program model. The client lives in a house, apartment, or similar setting, alone or with others. They are in charge of most residential maintenance, but they get regular visits from mental health staff or family. These visits help monitor and/or help with residential responsibilities.
Critical elements of PSH include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
Seeking safety therapy is an evidence-based treatment that helps people with trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and substance use. Seeking safety can be provided individually or in a group setting.
Critical elements of seeking safety include:
Mental health SE promotes rehabilitation and a return to productive employment for people with serious mental illnesses. SE programs use a team approach for treatment. Employment specialists carry out all vocational services, from intake through follow-along. SE differs from prevocational training, sheltered work, and employment in enclaves.
Job placements are:
The SE team has a small client to staff ratio. SE contacts happen in the home, at the job site, or in the community. The SE team is assertive in engaging and keeping clients in treatment, especially with face-to-face visits instead of contact by phone or mail. They work with family and others when needed. Services are often coordinated with vocational rehabilitation benefits.
Critical elements of SE include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
TCBA was developed at University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention with the NAMI Wisconsin. It’s a set of tobacco reduction interventions tailored to how willing the client is to move towards quitting. TCBA is an interventional approach based on the established stages of change model. It can help people with mental illness make progress and stop using tobacco.
Each client who currently uses tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, snuff, chew, snus, and e-cigarettes) is assigned to only one bucket. The bucket is based on their stage of change defined at the end of the survey year:
Each client who has never used tobacco or quit previously is assigned to one of these categories:
TCBA resources include:
Critical elements of TCBA include:
ACT: If this EBP is used as part of ACT, report it in the CSP survey under both ACT and this EBP.
We use data from participant surveys to measure how satisfied CSP participants are with public mental health and substance use services.
Below, you can find links to the survey and sample cover letters to send with surveys.
MHSIP Adult Satisfaction Survey, F-01389
This survey is available in English, Hmong, Khmer, Laotian, Nepali, Somali, and Spanish.
Select the link to download a cover letter template. Send the cover letter with the survey.
For technical help and support, contact: dhsdctscsp@dhs.wisconsin.gov.
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