If someone is in danger right now
Call 911, or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — free, confidential, 24 hours. In Pinellas County, 727-791-3131 reaches the 24-hour crisis line and a mobile team that comes out.
Mental illness or addiction? We can't take your loved one — but we know who to call.
In Pinellas County, Florida, an adult with a mental illness or an addiction is helped through a different system than APD group homes. For an immediate crisis, call 911, or 988, or the county crisis line on 727-791-3131, which can send a mobile team out. For treatment, housing or anything less urgent, First Contact on 211 holds the lists — and Boley Centers provides housing for adults with serious mental illness, while Operation PAR provides addiction treatment. Skycrest Place is a group home for adults with developmental disabilities, is not able to accept these referrals, and receives no payment from any organization named.
You probably found us by searching for a group home, saw photographs of warm houses, and hoped. We are sorry. Our homes are licensed by Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities for adults with developmental disabilities — autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability. A mental illness, a behavioral crisis or an addiction is a different license, a different system and, frustratingly, a different phone number entirely.
We get this call constantly, and we got tired of having nothing useful to say. So this page is what we wish we could hand over. Every number on it was called up and checked on September 20, 2026.
What you should know about this list
Full disclaimer & notices- We are paid nothing by anyone on it. No commission, no fee, no referral payment, no arrangement of any kind, from any organization named here — and we never will be. This list exists because families ask, not because it earns us anything.
- Nothing is here to look thorough. An organization earns its place only if ringing that number gets you something real — a team that comes out, a bed, an appointment, or a name you did not have before. Awareness campaigns and administrative switchboards are left off however respectable they look, because a longer list buys you nothing but more phone calls.
- This is not a recommendation. We have not inspected or evaluated these organizations. We are telling you they exist, what they broadly do, and that their number answered on the date above. Judge them yourself.
- We cannot promise anyone a bed. Nobody can see another provider's waiting list, and anybody who tells you they can get your loved one placed should worry you.
- This is information, not medical, clinical or legal advice. We are group home operators, not clinicians and not lawyers. Decisions about treatment, the Baker Act or the Marchman Act belong with professionals and with the court.
- Please don't send us details. There is no form on this page on purpose. We would rather you spent the next ten minutes talking to someone who can actually help than writing to us about something we cannot fix.
Not sure where to start? Answer three questions.
Nothing is saved and nothing is sent to us. It just points you at the right phone number.
Step 1 of 3
Is anyone in danger right now?
Hurting themselves, threatening someone, or you are frightened of what happens in the next few hours.
Or skip it — every number is listed in full below.
Before the list: not all of these can help the same way
This is the thing that wastes families the most time, and almost nobody says it out loud. Some of the numbers below belong to organizations that run the actual service — they may have a bed or a slot. Others are switchboards: they know who does and will tell you, but they have nothing of their own to offer you.
Both are worth calling. But ring four switchboards in a row and you will conclude that nothing exists anywhere — when what really happened is that you never once spoke to somebody who had a bed. So every entry below says which it is.
- Someone will do something today — a team comes out, or they take the person now.
- They run the service — call and ask what is open and how the waiting list works.
- They point you to others — best when you do not yet know what you are looking for.
Right now
Tonight, this hour, someone is unsafe.
911
Someone will do something today
Immediate danger to themselves or anyone else. Ask whether a Crisis Intervention Team officer is available — many Pinellas officers have that training.
911988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Someone will do something today
Free and confidential, 24 hours, anywhere in the country. Call or text. You can use it as the family member — you do not have to be the one in crisis.
988 Their websiteEleos Wellness
was PEMHSSomeone will do something today
Pinellas County's 24-hour crisis line and Baker Act receiving facility. They run a mobile crisis team that comes out to where the person is.
727-791-3131 Their website Find it on a mapThe name changed — this was PEMHS for many years, and pemhs.org now redirects here.
Veterans Crisis Line
Someone will do something today
If the person served. Dial 988 and press 1. Confidential, 24 hours, and open to the people who love them as well.
988, then 1 Their websiteThis week
Nobody is in immediate danger, but you cannot carry on like this.
First Contact
was 211 Tampa Bay CaresThey point you to others — no beds of their own
The switchboard for everything else in Pinellas — treatment, housing, benefits, food, and the lists nobody publishes. If you make one call from this page and it is not an emergency, make it this one.
727-210-4211 Their websiteOr simply dial 211 — that has not changed. Free, 24 hours. The organization renamed from 211 Tampa Bay Cares, so you will hear both names.
Boley Centers
They run the service — they may have space
Housing and support in Pinellas for adults living with serious mental illness. Closest in spirit to what most families are picturing when they find our website.
727-821-4819 Their website Find it on a mapOperation PAR
They run the service — they may have space
Addiction treatment across Pinellas and the wider bay area — detox, residential, outpatient, and medication-assisted treatment.
888-727-6398 Their website Find it on a mapDirections for Living
They run the service — they may have space
Pinellas behavioral health — counseling, psychiatry, case management, and help for families as well as the person who is unwell.
727-524-4464 Their website Find it on a mapSuncoast Center
They run the service — they may have space
Community mental health across Pinellas, including services for people with no insurance and no money.
727-388-1220 Their website Find it on a mapWhen you have been told no
For the stage most families reach eventually.
SAMHSA National Helpline
They point you to others — no beds of their own
Free, confidential, 24 hours, in English and Spanish. Treatment referral and information for mental health and substance use — they will give you actual names of places, not just advice.
1-800-662-4357 Their websiteSometimes written 1-800-662-HELP. Verified from findtreatment.gov, which is the federal government's own site.
Central Florida Behavioral Health Network
They point you to others — no beds of their own
The organization the state contracts to run publicly funded mental health and substance use services across this region. Useful when a local provider says no and you need to ask who else is contracted.
813-740-4811 Their websiteFlorida Abuse Hotline
A reporting line, not a service
If a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected or exploited — including neglecting themselves. 24 hours.
800-962-2873 Their websiteWhere can a mentally ill adult live in Pinellas County?The three realistic routes, and the waiting list on each.
There is no single answer, and anybody giving you one quickly is guessing. The realistic routes are supported housing for adults with serious mental illness, which in Pinellas is mainly Boley Centers; an assisted living facility holding a Limited Mental Health license, which you can search for in Florida Health Finder below; and, where addiction is part of it, housing that comes attached to a treatment program rather than before one.
All three have waiting lists. First Contact on 211 sees more of them than anyone else and is the single best call if you do not yet know which of the three you are looking for.
Search for places yourselfTwo real directories of facilities — each with its catch.
Two real directories. Each one comes with its catch, because a directory that looks official and is out of date sends you somewhere that closed — and that costs more than being sent nowhere.
The federal government's own searchable map of mental health and substance use treatment facilities. Put in a ZIP code and it shows you real places with addresses and phone numbers. It is confidential and it does not ask who you are.
The catch: SAMHSA say facility information is updated once a year from a survey, with new facilities added monthly. So call before you drive — a listing is a starting point, not a guarantee the place is still open or taking people.
Florida's own register of licensed facilities, including assisted living facilities with a Limited Mental Health licence — which is the licence an ALF needs to take residents with a serious mental illness. It is the closest thing the state has to a list of places somebody could actually live.
The catch: It lists who holds a licence, not who has a bed free or who is any good. Licence held is the floor, never the finish line.
Paying for itSSI, Medicaid, state-funded care and more — and the Florida trap.
The second wall, and often the one that stops everything. Each of these links goes to the agency that actually runs the program — not to a benefits site or an explainer — and each one names the agency so you can weigh it yourself. Nothing here quotes a dollar figure or an income limit: those change every year, and the agency holds the current one.
Read this before you spend a month on the wrong thing. Florida has not expanded Medicaid. An adult with no dependent children who has not been found disabled generally does not qualify however little they earn. For most families here, the route to coverage runs through a disability finding first — which is why SSI is at the top of this list rather than Medicaid.
Official · U.S. Social Security Administration
SSI — Supplemental Security Income →Monthly payments for people with a disability who have little or no income or resources. For most adults with a serious mental illness this is the doorway, because in Florida an SSI approval brings Medicaid with it rather than requiring a second application.
The catch: Applications are commonly refused first time and appealed successfully. A refusal is a stage, not an answer. Apply as early as you can — the process is long.
Official · U.S. Social Security Administration
SSDI — Social Security Disability Insurance →Different from SSI and often confused with it. SSDI is based on the person's own work history, so it pays more and does not test resources the same way. Someone who worked before becoming unwell may qualify for this instead.
The catch: Medicare follows SSDI, but only after a waiting period — it is not immediate.
Official · Florida Department of Children and Families
Florida Medicaid →Covers doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions and mental health services for those who qualify. Applications go through DCF. An adult receiving SSI is enrolled without a separate application.
The catch: ⚠️ Florida has not expanded Medicaid. An adult with no dependent children who has not been found disabled generally does not qualify however little they earn. This catches families out for months, so it is worth knowing on day one rather than month six.
Official · Florida Department of Children and Families
State-funded behavioral health →Florida funds mental health and substance use services for people who are uninsured, through providers contracted in each region. This is how somebody with no insurance and no money is seen at all, and it is the answer to the coverage gap above.
The catch: You will rarely be offered it. Ask any provider directly whether they have state-funded or DCF-contracted capacity, and ask First Contact on 211 who in Pinellas does.
Official · HealthCare.gov (federal)
Health Insurance Marketplace →Subsidised private plans, which must cover mental health and substance use treatment. Worth checking if the person has some income or is on a family plan.
The catch: Subsidies start at an income floor. Somebody earning below it and not disabled falls into the gap — too much for Florida Medicaid, too little for a subsidy.
Official · Medicare.gov (federal)
Medicare →For people 65 or over, and for those who have received SSDI for the qualifying period. Covers mental health care including inpatient and outpatient treatment.
The catch: Not the same thing as Medicaid, and having one does not mean having the other. Some people have both.
Official · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
VA mental health care →If the person served, VA mental health and substance use care is available and is often far quicker to access than anything else on this list. Worth checking even if they were discharged long ago or think they are not eligible.
The catch: Enrolment status varies and many veterans wrongly assume they do not qualify. Ask rather than assume.
Benefits rules change and we are not benefits advisers. Confirm anything that matters with the agency itself or with a Waiver Support Coordinator, a social worker, or a legal aid office.
Before you call, have this readyThe seven things every one of them will ask you for.
Every one of these places will ask most of the same things. Having the answers ready is the difference between getting somewhere in one call and being asked to call back tomorrow.
- Their full legal name, date of birth, and current address — even if that address is your house or nowhere.
- Their insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, private, or none. "None" is an answer and it does not disqualify them.
- Diagnoses if you know them, and who made them. An old evaluation is better than no evaluation.
- Every medication they are supposed to take and whether they are actually taking it.
- What has happened recently, with dates. Hospital visits, police contact, threats, missed work. Write it down before you call — under pressure the details go.
- Whether they will accept help voluntarily. This is the question that decides which door you are sent to, and it is fine to say you do not know.
- Your own name and relationship, and whether you have any legal authority — guardianship, power of attorney, health care surrogate. Usually the answer is none, and that is normal.
One more thing worth knowing: an adult’s privacy rights mean a provider often cannot tell you anything back, even when you are the one who called. That is not them being obstructive. You can still give them information, and doing so is usually worth it.
When they tell you noSix things that actually move it, from people who do this weekly.
They probably will, at least once. That is the system being full, not you asking wrong and not your loved one being beyond help. Here is what actually moves things, from people who deal with this every week.
Get on the list anyway, and ask two questions
"Can you put him on the waiting list?" and "How will you contact us, and what happens if we miss the call?" People fall off lists constantly because a number changed or a voicemail was full. Ask to be on more than one list at a time — nobody minds, and there is no penalty.
Ask who else takes this
"If you cannot take him, who would you call?" Providers know each other and they know who has space. This one question gets better answers than any directory, and almost nobody asks it.
Write down who you spoke to
A name and the date. When you call back — and you will — starting with "I spoke to Marcia on the 4th" changes the conversation completely.
If he has Medicaid, ask for targeted case management
Florida Medicaid pays for mental health targeted case management for adults with a serious mental illness. That is a paid professional whose job is to work this system for him, and it costs your family nothing. Ask any of the providers above, or ask First Contact on 211, how to get it started. Most families are never told this exists.
Call back weekly, not monthly
Beds and slots come free without warning and usually go to whoever called that week. Persistence is genuinely the mechanism here, unfair as that is.
When everyone local says no, go up a level
Central Florida Behavioral Health Network is contracted by the state to run publicly funded services across this region. They can tell you who else is contracted that you have not tried.
The Baker Act and the Marchman ActWhat each one actually is, in plain words. Not advice.
Families are handed these terms constantly and rarely told what they mean. This is a plain description of what each one is, not advice about whether to use it — that is a decision for a clinician, a lawyer and a judge, in that order.
The Baker Act
Florida's law for involuntary mental health examination. It is usually initiated by law enforcement, a judge or certain professionals, and it is short — an examination, not treatment and not a placement. In Pinellas the receiving facility is Eleos Wellness.
The Marchman Act
Florida's equivalent for substance abuse. A family member can petition the court directly. The Clerk of the Circuit Court publishes the petition forms and instructions free — in this county that is the Pinellas County Clerk, at mypinellasclerk.gov. You do not need a lawyer to file, though many families use one.
Neither is a way to get somebody housed. Both are legal processes with real consequences for the person they are used on, and both are worth talking through with 211 or a clinician before you start.
One last thing
If you have been doing this alone for years, the exhaustion you are feeling is not a failure of love. Nearly every family who reaches this page has been told no by several people already. Being told no by us is not evidence that there is nothing out there — it is evidence that we are the wrong door. Please try the next one.
Numbers checked September 20, 2026. Organizations in this field merge, rename and close — Eleos Wellness was PEMHS until recently — so please confirm anything that looks out of date, and treat a number that no longer works as our mistake rather than a dead end.