INTERFACE Referral Service

The Town of Bedford and the Bedford Public Schools are pleased to announce a new affiliation with the William James College INTERFACE Referral Service, an outpatient mental health resource and referral Helpline, open Monday through Friday, 9 am-5 pm, and available to Bedford residents and students of Bedford Public Schools. The Helpline can be reached at 888-244-6843 for resource information and/or outpatient mental health provider referrals from a trained resource and referral counselor.

Data collected from Bedford's 2018 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the 2019 Community Mental Health Needs Assessment, supports the acute need for increased and expedient access to mental health services for children, families, and adults. Our partnership with INTERFACE serves to facilitate access to timely and appropriate outpatient services. INTERFACE aims to help break down the "silos" that often exist between various agencies, mental health providers and support systems that can at times hinder access to mental health and wellness services for individuals. Through the INTERFACE Helpline, callers from subscribing communities like Bedford are able to work with a Resource and Referral Counselor who will help them navigate finding mental health services. Each caller will be assigned a lead counselor who will provide matches to services, as well as provide information and resources about mental health and wellness.

The Helpline assists callers by gathering information about their or their minor child's mental health concerns in order to match the caller to referrals for outpatient mental health professionals who best meet their needs based on insurance or fee requirement, specialty request, location needs, and general availability. INTERFACE Resource and Referral Counselors may at times re-direct callers to other resources in lieu of their service, or in addition to their service, based on their needs (for example, for callers presenting in crisis or with a need for a higher level of care).

INTERFACE Resource and Referral Counselors utilize a database of over 9,000 licensed and vetted providers. Callers receive a referral match, on average, within 2 to 3 weeks of their call to INTERFACE. The number of matched referrals and the time it takes to secure a matched referral will depend on a variety of factors, including insurance or fee requirement, specialty request, location need, and general availability of both callers and providers.

After providing referral matches, INTERFACE Resource and Referral Counselors contact callers to follow up to see if the referrals provided were a good fit for the needs described during the intake and to provide additional support and education. Counselors continue to work with the caller until a successful match has been established or the caller indicates they are satisfied and no additional assistance is needed at that time.

We encourage the community to take advantage of this new service now available in Bedford. For further mental health resources and information on the INTERFACE referral service, please navigate to the William and James College: INTERFACE Referral Services website. For information on what to expect when you call the INTERFACE helpline, please navigate to the William and James College: INTERFACE Referral Services website. To reach the INTERFACE Helpline call 888-244-6843 between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Should you have any other questions regarding mental health and social service supports or do not have health insurance, please do not hesitate to email Bedford's Community Social Worker Christopher Bang or call at 781-918-4328.