Community Mental Health Services

One of Koba’s newest endeavors is offering community-based mental health services to residents of the D.C. metro area. We are creating our own clinic, from which we will offer a variety of individualized, outpatient mental health services to our clients.

At Koba, we have over a decade of experience providing mental health services to children and families through our Mansion at Focus Point residential program. Because Koba desires to help all members of the community meet their mental health needs, we have decided to expand the scope of our efforts beyond the Mansion homes and into the broader community.

With a team led by Harvard-educated psychiatrist Dr. David Hackney, we have the experience and commitment necessary to provide community-based mental health services at the same high level of quality that we already offer at the Mansion homes. We are dedicated to serving you, our client, in a convenient and inviting setting, adhering to the highest ethical standards.

What are “community-based mental health services”?
Community-based mental health services are based on the belief that mental wellness is just as important as physical wellness and that visiting a mental health clinic, like visiting any doctor’s office, should come with no stigmas attached. A community mental health clinic looks and feels very much like any medical clinic or doctor’s office – NOTHING like most people’s idea of a “mental institution.”

This difference is intentional. While mental health services were once based strictly in hospitals and institutions (and many, perhaps most, people still think of them in that way), community-based programs have grown up as an alternative, making mental health services much more accessible to ordinary people in the community.

Why is Koba offering these services?
There are many reasons why Koba is choosing to expand into providing community-based mental health services. Our motivating principle is that mental health and physical health are equally-important parts of an individual’s whole-person wellness. Mental wellness, like physical wellness, is not something that applies only to “crazy” or “weird” people. It something that everyone – children AND adults – should be thinking about for themselves.

If you were having chest pains, visiting a heart doctor would be a logical choice, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t want to ignore the chest pains completely; you might end up having a heart attack, or worse. In the same way, if you have suffered the pain of a terrible loss, visiting a counselor is a logical choice. A counselor can help you to deal with your suffering just as a heart doctor could help you deal with chest pains.

We feel that there has never been a better time than now to become part of the effort to meet the mental health needs of our community. We already possess the resources, knowledge, and expertise that we will need to make the clinic a success. Dr. Hackney is a full-time psychiatrist with over 20 years of experience, and our experience providing mental health services to residents in our Mansion at Focus Point group homes spans more than a decade.

In addition, with the adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, the federal government has recognized the equal importance of mental wellness alongside physical wellness, and it has begun providing additional resources to support community-based mental health service clinics.

Koba’s Vision

Our vision is to provide a range of mental health services through an outpatient clinic in the D.C. metro area. In keeping with our focus on serving the community, we are committed to locating our clinic in an ordinary shopping and business district, with convenient access to public transportation. We will welcome anyone who is eligible for Medicaid or who carries his or her own health insurance.

In addition, we foresee a possibility of providing services not only to individual clients and patients, but also to residents of group homes beyond simply our own Mansion program. This would be a unique undertaking, as very few clinics have the specialized knowledge needed to offer this service.

Our vision extends beyond just our service offerings and location, though. We are dedicated to ensuring the dignity of our clients. If you become a client of ours, whether on your own or as a member of a group home, we will treat you as a person, not a number. We will uphold your rights as a seeker of community-based mental health services in Maryland. For example:

• You will not have to undergo any form of treatment unless you give us your consent first.
• You will receive basic information about treatment options and the processes and procedures that we use.
• Any written information you receive from us will be in language that is easy to understand.
• You will be served by qualified professionals who possess the necessary education and credentials.
• You will receive treatment in a culturally-sensitive context.
• Your medical records will be kept confidential.

Before we recommend a course of treatment, we will ensure that it is tailored to your particular needs. There will be no one-size-fits-all solutions. You are unique, unlike anyone else, and you are worthy of personal, dignified care when you seek a provider of mental health services. Rest assured that this is the kind of care you will receive from Koba.