The AFA program
provides long-term, persistently mentally ill individuals with a home-like
residential setting. Southern Hills Counseling Center contracts with area
families to provide homes for long-term and persistently mentally ill
individuals.
The goal of AFA is to provide residents the opportunity to achieve the skills
necessary to move towards a more independent living arrangement. To accomplish
this, the AFA program provides residents opportunities to:
a) Learn personal health care skills, including but not limited to medication
management, care for adaptive equipment, nutrition, and personal hygiene.
b) Develop domestic skills including menu planning, shopping, cooking, cleaning,
and laundry.
c) Develop skills in using community resources including medical and social
service programs, recreation and mobility services, and services such as
banking, shopping, and equipment repair.
d) Develop personal skills including time management, use of leisure time, money
management, and general coping skills.
The AFA program is open to ambulatory adults, both male and female. The
consumers must have a diagnosis of mental illness with a psychiatric disorder
that substantially disturbs the person's thinking, feeling, or behavior and
impairs their ability to function in the areas of daily living skills and
interpersonal relationships. Case managers meet with the individual on a regular
basis to assist them with their daily living skills and other needs they might
have. See the Community Support Services section for additional information on
the services provided by the case managers.