OTHER RESOURCES

Philadelphia Area Crisis Centers (pdf)

A Model System of Care For Dual Diagnosis Patients (pdf)

Dual Diagnosis Program (DDX)

A new frontier in service

More than half of America’s homeless veterans deal with the twin challenges of drug addiction and mental illness. In medical terms, this is called “dual diagnosis”. After Impact had spent more than a decade working with homeless veterans, Philadelphia’s VA Medical Center encouraged it to establish a program addressing this need.

In 2004, in collaboration with the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Impact launched its DDX program. Its initial capacity to serve 24 veterans was immediately filled. Within 2 years, faced with clear and compelling demand for service, the VA helped fund an expansion enabling service to 56 veterans. More growth is expected.

Impact is proud to work with the VA in establishing this program, one of the first in the country to treat simultaneously both drug addiction and mental illness.  The VA is taking the lead in developing a comprehensive treatment modality that brings the veteran through the stages of acute stabilization, engagement, education, persuasion, and finally rehabilitation while treating both the mental illness and the drug addiction in a corresponsive system of care.

Impact’s Dual Diagnosis program is an excellent example of enhancing service through innovation and the building of strong strategic partnerships.

To learn more about the kinds of mental illness addressed in this program, click here.

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