Heights Hill Mental Health Service, SBPC, Community Advisory Board D/B/A Rainbow Heights Club

The Heights-Hill Mental Health Service South Beach Psychiatric Center Community Advisory Board, Inc.’s mission is to bring innovative, affirming, and effective treatment advocacy and support services to people living with mental illness in a place of hope, recovery, and partnership.

The CAB offers an array of programs and services that provide specific outcomes to a range of constituencies.

• Since 2001, Rainbow Heights Club has provided contract funded, drop-in, strengths-based peer support services focused on the needs of LGBTQ+ adults who are living with serious mental illness. Participants are self-identified LGBTQ+ adults age 18 and up, who live in New York City, have a mental health diagnosis provided by a licensed practitioner, and are currently engaged in mental health care services outside the agency. We help 90% of our clients stay out of the hospital and in the community every year.
• E/Quality Care is a curriculum of LGBTQ+ cultural competency webinars designed to help mental health care providers in New York State meet their responsibility to provide affirming care to LGBTQ+ and, specifically, transgender and gender nonconforming clients. The constituency served is mental health and human services providers in New York City and New York State. We currently provide 30 webinars annually, all free of charge to participants.
• Medicaid billable Community Oriented Recovery and Empowerment services (CORE):In New York State, certified peer specialists are able to provide billable peer support, psychosocial rehabilitation, and family support and training services. Our clients are mental health service recipients (regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity) who are eligible to receive HARP waiver Medicaid billable services.
• Peer specialist internship program: Each year, the agency hosts 4 peer specialist interns who are recent graduates of a six month structured training program and are seeking a three month internship placement.