PATH Administrative Workgroup Definitions of Eligibility and Enrollment
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Description:
PATH programs provide services to people who are experiencing mental illness and are experiencing homelessness or risk of homelessness. But what does this mean? The PATH Administrative Workgroup examined the PATH Legislation and developed expanded definitions for PATH eligibility criteria and enrollment. These definitions are being adopted on a state-by-state basis and will help increase standardization across PATH programs.
Content:
Historically, PATH enrollment has been conceptually, but not specifically defined on a national level. In the current environment of increased expectations of outcome data from national programs, it has become important that the data elements used in the PATH program have universally understood and applied definitions.
It is challenging to report on outcomes and service information and to guide the program into a more outcome based reporting system without consistent use of the core terms used by PATH. As PATH will undergo a review and revision of the PATH Annual Report and Data Collection Elements over the next year, the timing of this clarification is critical.
In 2005, the Administrative Workgroup completed and released their work of providing service definitions for PATH. The next task recommended was to define enrollment, and this document provides that next step.Legislative language and the interpretation of legislative intent is used to develop the majority of PATH documents that provide guidance to the field.
Legislative language states that PATH should provide services to individuals who:
- (A) are suffering from serious mental illness; or (B) are suffering from serious mental illness and from substance abuse; and
- are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless.
This historically understood intent of PATH eligibility and PATH enrollment is:
- PATH Eligibility: An individual is eligible for PATH enrollment if it is determined that they meet the following criteria:
- The individual is determined to be experiencing serious mental illness or co-occurring serious mental illness and substance abuse disorder”; and
- The individual is experiencing homelessness or is at imminent risk of homelessness.
- PATH Enrollment: An individual may be enrolled in PATH when the above eligibility criteria are met and an individual record or file is developed for this individual.
In the Workgroup’s review of the current use of the terms PATH eligibility and PATH enrollment, it was discovered that the application of these terms varied widely across states and programs. In order to come to a more universally understood and practiced use of PATH enrollment, the following guidance was developed.
To view the full document please download the attached pdf file.
Download the National Definitions PowerPoint Presentation provided by SAMHSA.
Type of Resource:
PATH Resource
Publication Date:
2009
Location:
Newton Centre, MA
Phone:
617-467-6014