The Middle Peninsula-Northern Neck Community Services Board was recently awarded a $750,000 grant to develop and implement a Program of Assertive Community Treatment, or PACT.

The PACT program is comprised of a 10-member team, including a psychiatrist, three nurses, mental health and substance abuse professionals, vocational specialist and a team leader, all of whom are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The target population served by the PACT team is seriously mentally ill individuals most often with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although other diagnostic categories are considered, for whom traditional mental health interventions have not been effective, a release said. The majority of the services must be delivered in the community which in most cases will be where the individual resides.

According to the release from the CSB, there are several reasons why traditional interventions have not been effective with this population, but perhaps the most noted is that because of...