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Alta launches revamped FIRST program
YOUNGSTOWN
When Antoinette Carter’s teenage son began to exhibit some worrisome behavior, she didn’t know where to turn.
She noticed he was rebelling. He had anxiety. He went from dreaming of college to not even wanting to go to school. His personality seemed to change.
“It was devastating. It turned our world upside down,” she said. “I knew he wasn’t a bad kid. I just knew something was wrong.”
Carter, of Youngstown, began making phone call after phone call until she got some answers. Those calls eventually connected her with the Mahoning County’s FIRST program, which treats individuals dealing with first-episode psychosis.
On Monday, Alta Behavioral Healthcare launched a revamped FIRST program. Alta recently took over the program from another provider and made some changes.
The revamped program is a partnership between Alta, Compass Family and Community Services, the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board, and the Best Practices in Schizophrenia Treatment (BeST) Center of Northeast Ohio Medical University.
FIRST is open to people who have had psychotic symptoms for no more than 18 months.
Program leaders emphasized the importance of early treatment for people living with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
“We know that the early identification and initiation of treatment can drastically change the course of schizophrenia,” said Joe Shorokey, Alta Care Group CEO. “People afflicted with psychosis can often wait months, or even years, to get into treatment. We want to make every effort to get them in early.”
He described the revamped FIRST program as a “team-based, integrated outpatient treatment” approach.
The program has five components (participants must do at least two) – individual counseling, psychiatric care, supported employment/education, family education and support, and case management.
People familiar with the program also highlighted its focus on family support, something Carter found to be especially helpful.
Carter said her son, now 19, is doing much better thanks to the treatment he’s received.
To other families going through a similar situation, she said, “Don’t give. Keep talking. Keep looking for help.
“Nobody chooses to have a mental illness. Nobody chooses to have schizophrenia,” she said.
“I’m glad that the FIRST program has extended their arms to my family, because there are many families who don’t even know where to begin.”
FIRST treatment is based at Alta Behavioral Healthcare, 711 Belmont Ave. For information, call 234-201-2512.