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“I hate the way people are treated, if you don’t have money you’re screwed.” 

                                         Jeffrey S., mental health care recipient, jokester, football fanatic, community member. 

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We agree with you Jeff, and we want to change that. The reality is that there is immense inequity in the way mental health treatment is normally delivered. Our mental health system is actually two separate systems of care, one of which is available to those who can pay, and the community mental health system for those who can’t. And while we love community mental health, we know that often these centers are unable to truly meet the needs of their communities. It’s a system that’s always been broken. It’s time to do something different.

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Our agency confronts the service inequity between community mental healthcare and private practice by desegregating care. We work with clients across the socio-economic spectrum, while prioritizing accessibility to clients who are under-resourced. We offer therapy, additional support services, and ample ways to get involved with our community life. Although our needs may differ, we all share in the challenges that come with being human. Here, we believe that all pain is valid and important; whoever you are, we are here to support you. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

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What services do we currently offer?

1. Individual, Couples and Family Therapy for all ages

2. Peer Community Support: Availability is currently limited due to staffing.  

3. Rayo Art Weekly Skillshare (Flyer): Offered from July 7 to September 8, 2024, Sundays 10:30am-12:30 pm. Free for all. Rayo will be prioritizing current clients but may add extra sessions if there is interest from community members. 

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If you are interested in any of the services offered above, please email info@rayoco-op.com for further details.

 

Does Rayo take Medicaid and Medicare? What about other insurances and self-pay?

Medicaid: Rayo has applied for Community Mental Health Center status, which will enable Rayo to take Medicaid as an organization. After approval from DHS, Rayo will begin credentialing with HFS Medicaid and individual MCOs (e.g., Meridian, CountyCare, BCBS Community). This process can be lengthy, and we unfortunately do not have control over the timeline. We are projecting that we will complete the process sometime between December 2024 and June 2025. However, some Rayo providers take Medicaid and some MCOs. Please see our individual bios or email info@rayoco-op.com for further information. 

 

Medicare: Rayo's clinically licensed clinicians (LCSWs) take Medicare. ​ 

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Other Insurances: Rayo's clinically licensed clinicians (LCSWs) take Aetna, United, Cigna, BCBS PPO and some EAPs (dependent on clinician). Rayo's non-clinically licensed clinicians (LSWs) take BCBS PPO and Aetna PPO. 

 

Self-Pay and Sliding Scale: All Rayo clinicians take self-pay clients and offer sliding scale fees. Rate of service, including self-pay rate, is individually determined on a case-by-case basis. 

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What is a worker-led co-operative/collective?

A worker-led cooperative (or collective) means no distinction between employee and employer: all Rayo staff own and operate the agency collectively. We align ourselves with the 7 principles of a cooperative, which you can access here. 
 

What is a Community Mental Health Center?

Community Mental Health Centers are facilities certified by the Department of Human Services (DHS) to provide outpatient therapy, 24-hr crisis support, day programming, and assessment services to individuals regardless of their ability to pay. Click here to learn more. 

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How are we prioritizing clients who are under-resourced?

We are committed to ensuring accessibility to all by working with Medicaid and Medicare, providing sliding scale fees, pro-bono services, transportation, and additional resources as we are able.

 

What does it mean to desegregate care? 

We offer access to quality mental healthcare to clients across the socioeconomic spectrum through a model oriented towards staff retention, staff competency, and client agency. By prioritizing staff retention, we ensure all clients experience consistency in their treatment providers. All of our providers are well trained, and well supported. In addition, our model enables clients to set up free consultations with any available therapist they would like to work with, offering clients agency in their choice of provider regardless of insurance type/income level. 

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What do we mean by “mental health done the community way”?

At Rayo we welcome you as a member of our community, with opportunities for fellowship through social connectedness, community engagement, and voice. Some may spend time in common areas and participate in events, while others may come for therapy or crisis support only. Whatever your level of involvement, we strive to create an atmosphere of inclusivity and warmth that will nurture your recovery process alongside the direct services you engage with.

 

What are our core values?

• ​​Humility: At Rayo Counseling and Community Co-op we view ourselves as guides and partners, not as authorities. Some of us identify as Peers, having lived experience with mental health diagnoses, and all of us identify as people who know anxiety, struggle and pain. We are here to listen, empathize, collaborate, and support. 

• Inclusivity: We pledge to create a community built on a foundation of inclusivity. We want you to show up the way you are, not the way you’ve been told you need to be. All are welcome here.

• Collectivity: Community is an organism, each one of us no more or less than an integral part of a larger whole. This is collectivity, and it defines our ethos at Rayo. Decentering structural racism, we hold individualism within collectivity, as clients and staff work together to make decisions that impact the whole. 

• Abolition: We are abolitionists. In activist and abolitionist Mariame Kaba's words, prison industrial complex abolition is "a vision of a restructured society where we have everything that we need to live dignified lives." (Read the full interview here). Abolitionist mental health looks like community support, peer voices, and an anti-carceral crisis response. We align with the vision put forward by Angela Davis to "build movements that not only end violence, but that create a society based on radical freedom, mutual accountability, and passionate reciprocity. In this society, safety and security will not be premised on violence or the threat of violence; it will be based on a collective commitment to guaranteeing the survival and care of all peoples." (Read the full article here).