Family Services Senior Manager of Outpatient Services Kelley Austin, Therapist Jaime Harmon and Program Manager Amy Bologna welcomed community leaders and potential new clients into their South Water Street office Friday.
by Jonathan Weaver
Drug and alcohol counseling has been offered at Family Services of Western Pennsylvania along South Water Street in Kittanning for a few months, but more-and-more residents are seeking help.
Friday, officials celebrated with an open house of the facility (in a suite next to the Pennsylvania CareerLink), which spurred a potentially-larger caseload.
Senior Manager of Outpatient Services Dr. Kelley Austin oversees all outpatient programming at the Kittanning, New Kensington and Tarentum locations. She said since the location opened October 26, officials have overcome licensing and insurance obstacles.
“We’ve been expanding for a long time. The idea to come into Armstrong has really been on our radar for the past year-and-a-half to two years,” Austin said.
Family Services was selected through a Request for Proposals process and approved by Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission last year.
Austin – who is in the Kittanning location up to three days per week - said the location is also looking to hire another therapist and implement a new service program based on the community need.
“We would like to continue to help meet any unmet needs of the county,” Austin said. “We are working with the Mental Health Administration and starting a justice-related services program to help meet reentry needs for people who have conditions. Hopefully within the next few months we can move forward with that programming and offer those services as well.”
Patients can both be referred by public agencies or patients can walk into the office themselves.
Manager Amy Bologna is also in the Kittanning location up to twice per week.
Bologna started in her current role last month after training with Austin.
“This is a really needed service in this area, so I was really excited to be a part of that,” Bologna said. “We’ve gotten a ton of referrals from probation, local case managers and we have gotten really-positive feedback – they think we’re doing a great job so far.
“Just in the short time we’ve been here, I think we’ve made some positive changes.”
She agreed the justice-related service program is also a needed community support.
Full-time Therapist Jaime Harmon has worked in similar roles in Kittanning and Indiana. She has already crafted a good working relationship with case managers.
Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug and Alcohol Commission Executive Director Kami Anderson, county commissioners and upper-level Family Services staff based in Harmarville or Tarentum attended Friday’s open house.