Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) | Health Services

Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) helps people with the complex needs of homelessness, substance use disorders, and serious mental illness achieve their highest potential for health and well-being through comprehensive services, treatment, and housing.

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS TEAM
This team serves clients who want to change their use patterns, use substances in a safer manner, seek medication assisted treatment (MAT), or work toward stopping use altogether. The team specializes in providing treatment for people living with co-occurring disorders, so is highly integrated with our mental health case management teams.

MEDICATION-ASSISTED TREATMENT (MAT)
MAT is a promising way to treat opioid use disorder. It combines the use of medication with counseling and behavioral therapies to support people recover. MAT is available to people in our emergency shelters, outpatient programs, and supportive housing. This program uses strength-based, harm reduction, evidence-based approaches to treatment.

SUPPORT,ADVOCACY, GROWTH AND EMPLOYMENT (SAGE)
SAGE is the ongoing comprehensive case management component of DESC’s mental health program.
SAGE case managers work with clients to help them secure and maintain housing and improve their clinical and social stability, thus enhancing their level of independence and self-sufficiency.

PROGRAM of ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT (PACT)
DESC’s PACT team consists of a psychiatrist, nurses, mental health professionals, chemical dependency specialists, vocational specialists, social workers, and peer specialists all working together to help PACT participants reach their goals. Staff provide most services off-site, in the community where the help is needed. There is no time limit or mandatory cut-off point for services, but some participants do “graduate” to less intensive services. The traditional case management model usually involves one or two case managers who are responsible for a list of about 10-50 clients. In a PACT model, the entire team is responsible for every participant. PACT teams have daily team meetings in which they review the status of each person they serve and make a daily schedule of services to be provided in accordance to each participant’s current wants and needs.

HOMELESS OUTREACH STABILIZATION AND TRANSITION (HOST)
HOST case managers provide outreach and intensive case management on the streets and in shelters, hospitals, jails, libraries and other facilities. By seeking out people experiencing homelessness and mental health disorders. HOST outreach staff develop trusting relationships that encourage new clients to begin seeking assistance.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY TEAM (COAT)
COAT was developed to provide multidisciplinary services focused on equity and social justice, to those affected by legal competency services and the criminal justice system. COAT was developed to provide multidisciplinary services focused on equity and social justice, to those affected by legal competency services and the criminal justice system.

The team includes an occupational therapist, and mental health professionals that specialize in mental health evaluations and therapeutic treatment, crisis services, community outreach, intensive case management, occupational therapy, medication management, and nursing care. They collaborate closely with REACH and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) teams, which provide all referrals for the COAT program.

SERVICES and HOUSING to ACCESS RECOVERY PROGRAM (SHARP)
SHARP is a multidisciplinary team providing outreach and engagement services to adults experiencing chronic homelessness and living with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues. SHARP supports clients in obtaining permanent supportive housing and continues to provide outreach services after move-in to ensure client success post move-in.