Deaf Services

People who are deaf or hard of hearing have difficulty finding services that are linguistically accessible to them. When they do find services where someone "signs," often those services do not take into account the special cultural and linguistic considerations that often make the difference between successful treatment and relapse and recidivism. Our programs will be designed by people who are deaf to not only be linguistically accessible but also culturally affirmative, giving the consumer every opportunity to make progress to recovery.

The heart of Alabama Department of Mental Health's deaf services program is a network of regionally based staff that specializes in working with people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Both clinicians and communication access team members work out of regional offices in order to be closer to consumers they serve. Based in community mental health centers, these coordinators are the first point of contact for services.

A network of small group homes has grown to serve as a vital part of a system of care, helping deaf people with mental illness who are need stable, but not ready to live independently in the community. Admission to the group homes is coordinated by the regional coordinators in conjunction with the local community mental health centers overseeing the programs. There is currently a 3-bed group home in Birmingham which is run by Jefferson-Blount-St. Clair Mental Health Authority. Another 3-bed group home in Mobile is run by the AltaPointe Health Systems. A 3-bed home for older deaf people near Huntsville is operated by Mountain Lakes Behavioral Health Center. There is also a 6-bed home in Clanton, designed for more challenging consumers, operated by Chilton-Shelby Mental Health Center. All these programs have ASL fluent staff.