Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 10

205 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 ORB I T HEALTH “It took a few years to really gain momentum but ultimately we served almost all the prisons across the State of California. So based on that success, I started Orbit Health with a mission to help end the cycle of mass incarceration for the mentally ill – there are enough mentally ill people in jail and prison to fill the City of Cleveland, Ohio. We provide services to correctional facilities, as well as serving people that are at risk for incarceration; people with substance abuse problems, major mental illness like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, depression. We also provide expert witness testimony to the courts, so at every point we provide services that will help end that cycle of mass incarceration.” BVM: Do you help young people, as well as adults? Kaftarian: “Yes. One of the areas that we’re the most proud of is that we help children and adolescents that are vulnerable to incarceration, as well as substance abuse, homelessness, and are overall at risk for having problems. Our services includes residential youth programs and STRTPs (short term residential therapeutic programs) – basically a facility that provides specialized, intense therapy and 24-hour care and supervision to children. We provide telepsychiatry services to these facilities and they’ve come to rely heavily on our help. Providing medication management for children that have significant mental health disorders is one way we’re preventing the cycle of incarceration, by treating children prior to them ending up in gangs and committing crimes that would result in them going to prison.” BVM: What other sectors do you work with? Kaftarian: “We’re also available to help support police officers. So if they encounter a mentally ill person, they can utilize our services onsite to avoid having to arrest and incarcerate that person. I’ve had a lot of experience working in