Leyden Family Services plans to use a $50,000 grant to integrate care for 40 of its most challenged clients.
On Dec. 23, Telligen Community Initiative awarded Leyden Family Services, a social service agency headquartered in Franklin Park, the grant to hire a person to run a new program that aims to provide a continuum of care.
“So someone, somewhere, will know the whole big picture with the clients,” said Jennifer Hamilton, clinical supervisor of adult residential services.
Leyden Family Services picked 40 of its most “complex” clients, people with both serious and persistent mental illness and serious medical problems. The medical problems include diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, challenges with weight management and others.
“We’ll bridge the gap between mental health care and physical health care,” Hamilton said.
With the gap bridged, Leyden Family Services hopes to see improved blood pressure, improved eating habits and weight management, improved blood sugar levels, decreased psychiatric inpatient admissions, decreased emergency room visits or other positive outcomes.
Leyden Family Services hopes to hire someone by Jan. 15 to run the program. The grant is for one year but is potentially renewable.