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Transitional Resources 

Description

Transitional Resources is a licensed mental health center and residential treatment program serving individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses and co-occurring disorders.  TR plays a unique and vital role in the local mental health system by serving people who would otherwise be incarcerated, hospitalized, or homeless. We serve a diverse population of men and women living in King County who come from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Our goal is to provide safe housing and mental health treatment so clients can have a successful life off the streets and outside of institutions.

Mission Statement
Transitional Resources (TR) helps adults living with the most serious and persistent forms of mental illness by providing respectful and optimistic recovery-oriented services, affordable housing and advocacy against discrimination, which works to break the cycle of incarceration, hospitalization and homelessness.
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Transitional Resources
2970 SW Avalon Way 
Seattle 
WA
98126 
(206) 883-2051 

Darcell Slovek-Walker 
Chief Executive Officer 

Programs

Transitional Resources Programs

Our supported housing and comprehensive mental health care services provide an environment conducive to recovery.  Below are descriptions of three of the six programs and services we offer:
  1. Case Management: Staff assists clients in their mental health recovery by offering practical assistance and resource advocacy. Caseloads in this program are low and support is easily accessible 7 days a week. Case managers ensure that clients in the program receive comprehensive, well-coordinated care that is easy to access, recovery oriented, and flexible to meet the needs of the individuals.  This includes regular assessment for co-occurring disorders and health issues.
  2. Supported Housing: This program provides safe, decent, and affordable housing for clients in houses and apartments in the surrounding community. Clients support each other in an independent living environment with regular contact and assistance from TR staff.
  3. Residential Treatment:  This program serves those with the most serious and persistent mental illnesses. Residents maintain a cooperatively run household and are encouraged to seek employment, volunteer, or educational opportunities through our vocational program.   .

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

For over 30 years, TR has been known for success in recovery from severe mental illness.  Our most recent success is establishing our new low-income housing project, Avalon Place, which is part of TR’s Supported Housing Program and the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.  This mixed-use building, which opens in July, 2011, includes 16 studio apartments that will provide a safe, permanent home to adults with severe mental illness or co-occurring disorders who are currently managing their mental health issues while living on the streets or in area shelters.  These men and women are high utilizers of the mental health system, inpatient facilities, emergency services, or the criminal justice system.  It is far less expensive to provide housing and services in the community for these men and women than it is to provide emergency response services – and it is much more humane. People are more responsive to mental health treatment and social services once they have experienced the safety and stability of permanent housing. 

TR has a need for renovating our oldest house, TRY house. This building is home to 15 high needs individuals who receive mental health treatment here at TR. The kitchen and the first floor are common areas for all 15 residents, and get a lot of foot traffic from both residents and staff. We hope to renovate, update and spruce up the floors and kitchen this year to make the house more modern and functional, as well as making it a more comfortable home for our clients.

Evaluation


Transitional Resources (TR) plays a unique role in the continuum of services for mentally ill adults in King County. TR fills a unique niche in serving a population that would likely otherwise be incarcerated, hospitalized, or homeless; in many cases, these mentally ill adults are faced with the highest level of need.

Proven Success
TR believes that all men and women living with mental illness deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. People with serious mental illness can improve their lives, provided they have adequate support. In their most recent housing project for chronically homeless individuals living with mental illness, they helped one tenant decrease his jail use dramatically: he went from being jailed over 65 times in one year to not being jailed once since entering TR. Another client was in the state hospital for twelve straight years before coming to TR nine years ago. With TR’s supportive services, he is still living successfully in his own home and has not had even one psychiatric hospitalization.

Use of Best Practices
TR keeps their caseload sizes low, typically half the size of larger mental health centers. This allows them to meet each person’s unique needs and do more than just respond to a crisis, which often happens when caseload sizes are high. They provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They achieve efficiencies with their small size and low overhead. They are able to serve someone in their most intensive outpatient program for ¼ of the cost of a stay in the state hospital or jail.

Integrating mental health services with housing and offering a continuum of care from residential treatment to outpatient services helps us to accomplish these results.

Financial Health
Transitional Resources’ funding is relatively stable. But more and more of their clients are becoming ineligible for mental health services due to changes in eligibility requirements. They continue to offer complete services and this puts a financial strain on TR and makes it more difficult for them to provide clients the mental health care they need. They continue to develop private fundraising strategies and look for ways to conserve funds throughout their budget.

Sustainability
They have positioned the agency to be ready for health care reform and have established a partnership with Navos to ensure they are able to continue providing their unique blend of intensive services. TR has a successful track record of partnering with Navos on several projects and they see more opportunities for this type of collaboration under health care reform. Their implementation of electronic health records, which will allow them to directly interface with Navos and with primary care providers, also enhances their viability under health care reform.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
12/10/2012 $10,000.00provide general operating support.
12/10/2011 $15,000.00support general operating expenses.
10/5/2006 $25,000.00support general operating expenses.

Financials

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