- Emergency and Crisis Intervention:
Information to parents or others on grief, loss, divorce, behavior and school related problems.
Referrals to community resources.
Advice, articles and books relevant to their area of concern.
Assessment and crisis intervention in the areas of physical and sexual abuse, school phobia, depression and level of suicide risk.
- Triage: The staff provides 9 hours per day, 45 hours per week of direct coverage. These services are offered Monday through Friday by the Child & Adolescent team. Interventions around the following problems are triaged:
The on-call therapist triages the clinical needs and recommends the appropriate psychiatric intervention or evaluation. Evaluations include:
- Inpatient hospitalization for children or teens
- Drop-in
- Urgent
- High priority
- Routine
Evaluations for teens are also through the Teen Crisis Program. Evaluations and treatment for parents are also through the various Parenting Groups.
- Intensive Outpatient Program (I.O.P.) Services provides services to families in crisis to prevent the need for hospitalization or re-hospitalization. Services are provided at least three times a week in teen, multi-family and parent groups, medication evaluation and monitoring, psychological testing and individual and family therapy. Program may last 4-8 weeks until stabilization followed by transition to outpatient services.
- Treatment:
After the initial evaluation, treatment recommendations are made for the child, teen and parents. These can include individual, family or group therapy, or a combination of these modalities. Referrals for a medication evaluation may be recommended and assessed by a child psychiatrist. Treatment for teens may be through the Teen Crisis Group. Treatment for teens who have been hospitalized for psychiatric issues, are involved in the Post-Hospital Teen Group.
Our group program is an effective and efficient way to provide brief treatment to a significant number of clients. Our staff offers an extensive group program, and is dedicated to using groups as a treatment modality. The group program is based on a developmental and psycho-educational model, as well as crisis and specialty groups. Groups are time-limited (8-10 sessions), open access (accepts new referrals) or drop-in (immediate access).
- Psycho-Educational Group Program:
These groups are provided to parents to develop parenting skills and offer support. The Shapedown Program was developed jointly with Nutrition and our Health Education Department to address the problem of child and teen obesity.
- Medication and Evaluation, Follow-up and Management:
Medication evaluations and follow-up are provided by the child psychiatrist. Referrals can be made by the primary therapists as well as other professionals within the medical departments. Medication is prescribed only in conjunction with psychotherapy unless so indicated. Consultation services are provided to other primary care providers. Specific protocols have been developed to evaluate and monitor various medications. A psychiatric nurse is also available to provide monitoring and follow-up on these clients. A medication information group is available to educate parents around medication issues.
Psychological testing is provided at the discretion of the primary therapists. Testing is provided for clinical purposes such as a differential diagnosis, other diagnostic questions, medication indicators, treatment recommendations and responsiveness to our treatment modalities. Psychological testing is viewed as a valuable component to our program. Protocols have been developed for referrals and assessment.
The Child & Adolescent staff provides consultative services in several ways. Consultation services are provided to the emergency room, medical departments and hospital units. Consultations may be urgent, standard or ongoing. Requests for consultation for a child or teen may be for an overdose, chronic illness, acute trauma, new medical diagnosis, organic problem or medication. Consultation requests are received on an ongoing basis from the Department of Pediatrics for outpatient services. Consultation protocols have been developed by the staff.
- Information and Referral:
This service is provided by the Child & Adolescent Program. Community resources and services are available. The staff and interns developed resource manuals of these services. Book lists and articles on various child or teen issues are available. Parenting resources and education material are available. Information regarding child abuse, confidentiality, laws and legal issues has been compiled. We work closely with Parents Helping Parents staff that helps parents identify resources and advocate for their children’s special needs.
