The Monetary Advisory Program (MAP) links representative payee services with case management and mental health services. It has been funded by the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health since 1986. As the designated representative payee, St. Joseph Center receives a person's public disability benefit (social security insurance, veteran's compensation) and works with the client to ensure that these benefits are first used to meet their basic needs and often then to establish some form of savings. This service is available to persistently mentally ill adults who are either homeless or at great risk of becoming homeless. The goal of the program is to enable individuals to eventually manage their own finances.

Based on a decade and a half of pioneering work in the money management field, St. Joseph Center has developed and implemented a comprehensive program at MAP that provides money management education, case management services, and housing assistance.

Program participants may live independently in the community, or in skilled nursing or board and care facilities. During case management, staff meets regularly with participants to help them determine obstacles to health and self-reliance and to design and implement an individualized service and referral plan. This component includes one-one-coaching in money management and basic life skills. Small group instruction in money management and basic life skills both complements and reinforces the lessons learned in case management.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers at MAP help with filing and other office tasks.