Address

18680 SW 376th Street
Florida City, FL 33034

Phone

786-349-6000

Beds

249

Partner Agency

Florida Department of Children and Families

Accredited by

The Joint Commission

SFETC’s Resident Handbook

Download Now

SFETC’s Doctoral Psychology Internship Brochure

Download Now

Background:

Through a competitive solicitation process, the Florida Department of Children and Families chose Wellpath Recovery Solutions to transition SFETC from public to private management in 2005. Wellpath subsequently developed, designed, and built a state-of-the-art replacement facility that was completed in 2008.

Philosophy:

SFETC embraces recovery-oriented, trauma-informed care for all patients. The recovery model promotes patient choice and tailors treatment to meet individual needs based on the assessments of a multi-disciplinary treatment team. Support of family, friends, or other individuals selected by the patient are encouraged to participate.

Services:

SFETC provides evidence-based, trauma-informed behavioral health services to individuals found incompetent to proceed to trial and not guilty by reason of insanity. Services include individualized assessment, multidisciplinary treatment planning, psychiatric services, competency restoration, integrated treatment for co-occurring psychiatric and substance disorders, court reports, court testimony, psychosocial rehabilitation, discharge planning, medical care, pharmacy, food/nutrition, facility maintenance, transportation, and safety/security.

SFETC has developed processes for ensuring respect for patient rights, prevention of abuse, neglect and exploitation, the virtual elimination of seclusion and restraint, and effective linkages to the community, legal system, state psychiatric facilities, and other agencies.

SFETC Doctoral Psychology Internship Program:

The SFETC Doctoral Psychology Internship Program is a member of the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers (APPIC) and participates in the APPIC Internship Matching Program. Applications and the Applicant Agreement can be obtained from the APPIC website. Our program code is 1218. We have two funded Doctoral Psychology Internship positions. Our program is not currently accredited by the American Psychological Association. The Department of Psychology consists of six full-time licensed psychologists, two full-time postdoctoral psychology residents, and two full-time doctoral psychology interns. The Director of Psychology, Clinical Training, and Forensic Services has oversight of the SFETC Doctoral Psychology Internship Program. The SFETC Doctoral Psychology Internship Program aims at developing doctoral psychology interns who can integrate practice with science, show multicultural sensitivity, and provide high-quality, evidence-based assessments and interventions to adults facing forensic issues and severe and persistent mental illness in a hospital-based setting. SFETC provides treatment using a multidisciplinary psychiatric rehabilitation model based on a philosophy of Illness Management & Recovery. The intern functions broadly as a clinical practitioner. The internship follows a sequential, cumulative, and increasingly complex training process so that interns can effectively acquire profession-wide competencies. Training is accomplished through clinical experiences, supervision, observation, and didactic trainings. Training activities include assessment, diagnosis, report writing, group interventions (DBT and competency-restoration), participation in multidisciplinary teams, individual therapy, individual competency restoration, didactic trainings, writing specialized behavior plans, and observations of court testimony.

Significant Achievements:

• Implemented active individualized patient treatment plans that led to a significant reduction in the average number of days to restore competency
• Recognized by The Joint Commission as a Top Performer on Key Quality Measures
• Initiated Crisis Intervention Team training for all security staff
• Established evidenced based practices and recovery culture
• Established an interdisciplinary response team for therapeutic responses to aggressive patients
• Initiated Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Moral Recognition Therapy, and the Minkoff co-occurring disorders approach
• Coordinated training with National Technical Assistance Collaborative to educate staff on how to reduce the use of seclusion and restraint
• Met or exceeded all performance requirements identified by the Florida Department of Children and Families since assuming operations
• Implemented trauma-informed care