Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) staff consist of people from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds tasked with using a team approach to meet the needs of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. As such, every ACT program needs a person who assumes the role as the Team Leader. This Leader maintains a macro-level view of the team’s resources and service recipients’ needs at all times.
Every ACT team is to have one full-time person serving as the Team Leader. This person has full clinical, administrative, and supervisory responsibility to the team, and no responsibility to any other agency programs during the 40-hour work week. Qualified individuals ideally have at least a Master’s degree in a behavioral health, rehabilitation, or related clinical field, as well as a license in their respective field. State licensure and/or certification in one’s clinical field helps to ensure that a minimal standard of training and knowledge of practice and ethics has been met and is being maintained with license renewals. The Team Leader also has at least three years of experience in working with adults with severe mental illness.
ACT Team Leaders typically have more immediate supports from middle management (e.g., Program Manager), who provides supervision to the Team Lead and helps ensure the team has what it needs in terms of resources and supportive policy. Team Leaders also receive a tremendous amount of support from an office-based Program Assistant. Larger teams often have an Assistant Team Leader, who can share in some of the leadership responsibilities, and are essentially groomed to assume the Team Leader role if there is a staff change. Team Leaders also work very closely with the ACT Team Psychiatric Care Provider to provide clinical leadership and direction to the team.
Learn More about the ACT Team Leadership, including activities of the Program Assistant, through these resources.
