The Town of Stoneham, the Stoneham Coalition and the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham are proud to partner on a new initiative to benefit the mental health and wellness of all Stoneham residents and students. The INTERFACE Referral Service is an outpatient mental health resource and referral Helpline that the Stoneham community has contracted with to help children, adults, and families get connected with outpatient mental health and wellness resources. The Stoneham Coalition was able to fund this program through a generous grant from Winchester Hospital, and is bringing this resource to the community in partnership with the Town of Stoneham and The Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham.
Stoneham residents can now call to receive personalized matched referrals to outpatient mental health providers (based on factors such as insurance, location, type of provider needed, and availability) through the INTERFACE Referral Service Helpline. The process begins with an intake call that takes 15-20 minutes. When someone calls, they will speak with a Resource and Referral Counselor and will be asked to complete a confidential intake. The caller will be asked for some basic contact information, information about the individual or their dependent, insurance information, availability to meet with someone, and general information about what the individual is concerned about. Each caller will receive a case number to keep the process confidential. Within several business days, the caller is assigned to a lead Resource and Referral Counselor who will begin a search for an outpatient mental health provider match by utilizing a tailored search process in their database, as well as other resources to find a match. The INTERFACE Referral Helpline is committed to making a match with a provider as soon as possible, usually within two to three weeks of receiving the intake. INTERFACE counselors follow up with callers after the match is received to ensure the provider is a good fit. There is no limit to how many times an individual or family can use this service.
Along with the INTERFACE Referral Service, the Town of Stoneham has added several additional mental health resources for residents. The Stoneham Police Department has partnered with Eliot Community Human Resources to utilize the services of a full-time mental health co-response clinician. The role of the clinician is multi-faceted, responding with police officers to calls where a person may be experiencing a mental health crisis, provide follow-up with residents who come to the attention of the police department who could benefit from services, as well as serving as a resource for the Department and community. Funding for the co-response clinician was provided through a grant from the Department of Mental Health’s Jail/Arrest Diversion Program with the goal of keeping individuals from entering the criminal justice system who are in need of mental health services.
The Town of Stoneham has also partnered with Eliot Community Services to provide a Recovery Coach to those struggling with addiction in the Stoneham community. Recovery coaching is a non-clinical, peer-based recovery support service. Recovery Coaches promote recovery by serving as a personal guide and removing barriers to recovery. The Stoneham Recovery Coach can also help connect individuals and families to resources such as detoxes, sober homes and therapists. Tracy Ascolillo, Recovery Coach CARC can be reached at 781-879-2117 or [email protected].
“It’s been a collaborative effort among community groups to offer Stoneham residents such a variety of mental health, prevention and treatment resources. After an unprecedented year for the families in our community, we are thankful to Winchester Hospital, the Stoneham Coalition, the Stoneham Police Department and the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham for helping to provide services that offer support to those in our community who need it most,” Dennis Sheehan, Stoneham Town Administrator.
The Interface Referral Service Helpline is available to Stoneham residents and public school students. The helpline is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm at 888-244-6843 (toll free). To learn more about this program or to see other communities currently contracting with this service visit: interface.williamjames.edu/.
