Please read the following FAQ’s about the Geriatric Regional Assessment Team’s scope and ability. If you have additional questions, would like to consult about eligibility, please email us at GRAT@soundgenerations.org.
What are the basic eligibility requirements for GRAT?
- In order to qualify for our service, the referred person must have a need for behavioral health assessment: a mental health, cognitive/memory, or substance use issue that contributes to safety risks and disrupts their everyday functioning. At our heart, we are a behavioral health team, and our clinicians are experts on all types of behavioral health issues as they arise in later life.
- Otherwise, we have four additional eligibility requirements:
- The person must reside in King County.
- They must be at least 55 years of age or older.
- They must be able to receive support services at home, thus they cannot be actively homeless or unhoused.
- They cannot already have a higher level of care in an assisted or inpatient setting or comparable service from a behavioral health provider.
GRAT is not a crisis response team. What does that mean?
- We are a small team of behavioral health professionals, and we are NOT set up to respond to active emergencies or crises. Our intended response time from receiving a referral to contacting a client for outreach is 8 business days. This means if someone is in a situation where they need immediate help, we will not be suitable to help as we cannot respond promptly.
- For more information on a crisis, and to see examples, please click here [link coming soon].
Who can make a referral to GRAT?
- Anyone! We take referrals from community members and professionals alike. If you’d like to make a referral, please call the GRAT line listed above. If you are hoping to refer yourself to our program, please start by calling Pathways Information & Assistance at 206-448-3110. We do not accept self-referrals, but our colleagues at Pathways can help determine if you’d be a good fit for GRAT, and make a referral on your behalf if so.
I have a client who would be suitable for GRAT, but they don’t live in King County. Are there any similar programs that could help?
- At the time of publication, we are not aware of programs like GRAT outside of King County. If your client has urgent needs, we recommend contacting the appropriate 24-hour crisis line.
- Alternatively, try navigating Washington State’s Community Living Connections website to find appropriate services or looking up ‘your county + behavioral health services’ is the fastest way to find out what programs and resources are available in your area.
Can GRAT serve people who are under 55?
- Even if your client has other qualifying needs, by contract with King County, GRAT cannot work with anyone under the age of 55.
What is a facility? What does that have to do with who GRAT can accept?
- Due to our funding guidelines, we cannot work with anyone who is receiving a higher level of care than what we offer. This ensures that tax dollars are appropriately serving the most people, and that there aren’t redundancies of service.
- For these reasons, we define a facility as:
- Any hospital.
- Any adult family home.
- Any assisted living facility.
- Any inpatient psychiatric program.
- Any inpatient substance use program.
Why can’t GRAT work with anyone who is homeless/unhoused?
- Again, this is due to our funding guidelines. We are unable to work with anyone who is actively homeless/unhoused. This includes elders who:
- Are living on the streets.
- Are living in shelters.
- Are living in transitional housing.
- Are living in their car or RV.
- Are living in motels or hotels.
- Are couch hopping/ couch surfing.
Will GRAT accept a referral for a person discharging from inpatient care?
- If someone is currently hospitalized and inpatient staff are working on discharge plans, then GRAT is largely redundant. Our scope is limited to assessing needs and strengths, screening for behavioral health issues, identifying goals for treatment, and then coordinating referrals, which is a limited duplication of what inpatient staff provide while a person is receiving medical or psychiatric care. Referring to GRAT from an inpatient setting will add an unnecessary step to obtaining support services for a person when they return home.
Does GRAT provide decisional capacity evaluation?
- No, that kind of evaluation is beyond our scope of practice.
Does GRAT provide in-home therapy?
- While our clinicians are licensed behavioral health professionals, our program is not intended to be a therapy-based service. While our approach is informed by therapeutic practice, we do not provide therapy: in-home, via telehealth, or otherwise.
Does GRAT perform Home Care Assessments for caregiving hours?
- No, the focus of GRAT is on behavioral health, not on physical and medical needs.
What is a biopsychosocial assessment? What does GRAT screen for?
- A biopsychosocial assessment involves interviewing a consenting older adult to learn about their perspective on their current situation, including their physical and behavioral health, everyday functioning, social life, interests, values, goals, motivation, needs, strengths, and supportive relationships. We often ask to use assessment tools designed to screen for various issues and involve self-report. Since the interview is conducted in the referred person’s home, we observe their living conditions. We also speak with those directly involved in supporting the referred person to form a snapshot of the situation. Altogether, the collected information helps clinicians develop tailored suggestions for support services and resources
- GRAT currently has the capacity to screen for:
- Cognitive/memory impairment.
- Substance use issues.
- Some mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.
- However, these screenings are NOT designed to provide diagnoses. Instead, if we perform a screening and there are significant results, our clinicians will work with the client’s healthcare provider to complete the steps for diagnosis.
Does GRAT have a waitlist? How does the acceptance process actually work?
- GRAT does not keep a waitlist, we only accept clients on a rolling basis. If you complete a referral, you can expect to hear back from us in a week or less about its acceptance status.
Does GRAT cost money? Are there any financial barriers or restrictions?
- No, GRAT is funded by the King County Veterans Seniors and Human Services Levy and the Mental Illness and Drug Dependency sales tax, so our services are provided entirely for free to our clients.
Does GRAT do case management?
- We are set up to only have short-term engagement with our clients, focusing on assessment and referral planning with cases typically lasting 3-5 weeks. When appropriate, we offer referrals for case management services but cannot provide case management ourselves.
My client wants therapy. Can GRAT help?
- If your client is actively seeking therapy services, they will likely not be a good fit for GRAT. Unfortunately, we do not have backdoor access to any mental health providers and would be going through the standard referral process to get your client connected. In this situation, we would be an extra step that stands between your client getting the help they desire. Instead, you can search for community behavioral health providers through King County Mental Health Services.
My client has urgent medical needs. Can GRAT help?
- We are not a medical team, and do not have the ability to respond quickly to any urgent situation, let alone a medical one
Can GRAT provide housing for clients?
- We can only provide general housing resources already available to the public, such as those found on Washington 2-1-1 and aptfinder.org.
- If your client is currently facing eviction, please be mindful that any intervention to address housing issues will take time (30-90 days), so it’s important to consider what services are most immediately needed to prevent the loss of housing, such as legal and rental assistance, and whether there is sufficient time for us to coordinate additional support services.
What other resources exist for elders who need help?
- If you have resource needs—ie, caregiving, home maintenance, legal assistance, transportation services, counseling services, food services and nutrition—we recommend you give our colleagues at Pathways Information & Assistance a call at 206-448-3110. They are a resource hub, and will be able to give you direction and guidance towards resources that suit your unique needs and situation.
- Aging and Disability Services through the City of Seattle also has a myriad of programs for older adults, adults with disabilities, and caregivers.
- The Washington State Department of Social and Health Servies (DSHS) has a repository of local services that can be filtered by county.