Comprehensive Community Support Service

By Mary McPhail Gray
Board Chair

“Everything changes,” declared Angela Sisneros in describing the impact she has seen Comprehensive Community Support Service (CCSS) has on clients at Taos Behavior Health. “They come in with a smile on their face, they are much more apt to talk to others in the waiting room, and they readily make additional appointments. It is so different than when they first come in feeling negative and worried.”

Taos Behavioral Health now has four employees who are fully certified in CCSS, and six others in the process of being certified. The CCSS provides clients who are eligible for full Medicaid benefits with a path to self-sufficiency and more successful participation in the community.

Sisneros has been certified for a number of years through her education and participation in various behavioral health positions in Taos. From a multi-generation Taos family, Sisneros was a single parent who knew she wanted to help others—initially with a goal of being an educator. Her work at UNM-Taos began to emphasize alcohol and substance abuse treatment and intervention in abusive situations. She found those topics compelling and following her completion of an associate degree she took a position at Taos Detox. [Read more…] about Open for Business: Comprehensive Community Support Service!

Mary Gray McPhail By Mary McPhail Gray
Board Chair

“I work from a deep commitment to partnership with my clients—asking them how we can help them achieve their goals” states Brian Salazar, the Director of the new Comprehensive Community Support Service (CCSS) program at Taos Behavioral Health. CCSS is a Centennial Medicaid-supported community-based behavioral program for individuals of all ages struggling with a mental health challenge that interferes with their successful independent functioning in the community. It provides psycho-social services to assist participants with learning the skills necessary to achieve the highest level of independent functioning, stability and independence.

After an assessment by a clinician, a plan is made with the client to cover five domains: community or independent living, employment or work, socialization, recreation and self-care, and thinking. Through group and individual sessions, the CCSS worker and client work together on goals in each area. “The client is in charge of making a self-assessment as we work together” states Salazar. If they are making progress, the client is able to find support for more fully participating in the community and building a satisfying life. In contrast to case management, where a professional performs the actions to link the client to systems, the CCSS professional teaches the client how to navigate systems and make use of resources they have seen as not open to them.