Adult Community Clinical Services

The ACCS Program provides support to people working to strengthen their recovery and improve their quality of life. Currently, we are assisting more than 450 adults living with serious mental illness who are in various stages of recovery.  In our work, we guide people to use their strengths and skills as they focus on goals most important to them.  This is a clinical program built around self-empowerment, person-centered planning and the belief that recovery is possible.

Individuals may live independently in their own homes, in group homes or in North Suffolk-owned properties. Each person works with a team that includes licensed clinicians, psychiatrists, nurses, addiction specialists, and outreach worker. Peer specialists provide support based on “lived experience” and an understanding of the challenges that go along with mental health and substance use concerns. The program also includes staff with special skills and experience to help people reach their housing and employment goals.

The ethnic and language makeup of the staff mirrors the community of persons served by the program and they are experienced working with individuals from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Latinx, Chinese, Vietnamese and Cambodian communities. The intensity and frequency of services are flexible to ensure that supports are available to meet everyone’s changing needs.

Referrals to the ACCS program are made through the Department of Mental Health.

BAY HOUSE: Bay House is a North Suffolk group home exclusively for persons in the ACCS Program who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Staff members are fluent in American Sign Language and related sign-based communication such as PSE – Pidgin Signed English and tactile signing for deaf-blind or low-vision. The members of the team understand the unique needs and challenges of this community. Residents are encouraged to acquire the independent living skills necessary to move forward and live independently.