There are a number of children and adolescents who are isolated from traditional clinic- or office-based services, whether due to geographic location, socioeconomic factors, and/or transportation concerns. Often parents are unable or unwilling to bring the child or adolescent to a mental health center. Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services fill a service gap by having the capacity to serve individuals in their naturalistic environment, including home, school, and community settings. Further, the level of intensity of symptoms in some children precludes treatment in a clinic setting alone, and rather direct, intensive, in-vivo interventions are needed in order to allow that client to remain in the home, thus providing the least restrictive intervention.

Nature of Services

Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS) are designed to provide intensive, short-term interventions to a child or adolescent and their family in a setting other than a provider agency or office. Direct support of this nature is necessary in clients who would otherwise require more intensive and restrictive services, such as hospitalization or residential placement. By providing direct in-vivo supports, interfacing with the family system, and utilizing collaboration with educators, case managers, and other associated agencies and community supports, it is hoped that progress can occur in the least restrictive manner possible, and allow the client and family to continue to utilize learned interventions as well as naturalistic community-based supports upon discharge.

Services are delivered based on a Treatment Plan that is individualized, based on the needs of the child, and sensitive to the culture, environmental, familial and socioeconomic constraints. Treatment plan will be strengths-based, and reflective of identified need in various life domains. Each goal in treatment plan will be operationally defined, such that progress is able to be statistically assessed, using accepted methods, such that identification of global progress can be assessed, as well as determination of specific Life Domains that require ongoing treatment focus.

Guiding Principles

Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services follow C.A.S.S.P. principles, specifically involving a child-centered approach to intervention, involving utilization of strength-based and child-specific treatment that is developmentally appropriate and considers the environment within which the child functions. Additionally, family focused intervention will include all family members in intervention. Integration with community-based supports will occur that will allow the family to successfully navigate and access naturalistic supports upon discharge. The basis for the present intervention involves multi-system approach, with services provided in collaboration with the various child-serving systems, including the educational, social, and community spheres. Further, interventions are to be culturally competent, respecting and recognizing the differences that characterize the child and family's cultural group, with sensitivity to the attitudes, values, and beliefs of that particular culture. Additionally, the design of intervention is to be in the least restrictive/least intrusive manner, which defines this current brief model. Finally, interventions will be highly evidenced-based, and utilize standardized clinical tools in the assessment of symptoms and progress, with outcomes-measures utilized for accountability and to shape future treatment direction.

Target Population

Target populations served are children and adolescents under 21 years of age whom have been diagnosed with DSM-IV Axis I diagnosis and where their conditions interfere with their daily functioning. Each individual will come from a mixed socioeconomic and cultural background, and the treating clinicians will evidence cultural sensitivity in this regard. Each client will be enrolled in an MH/MR Base Service Unit and/or Managed Care Organization, and may have other services such as Outpatient Mental Health Treatment, Intensive Case Management, Juvenile Probation and other County and independently provided services as appropriate. Multiple system focus of intervention involves coordination of service with these various service providers, and relevant staff representatives from involved agencies are invited to attend the regularly scheduled Interagency Service Team Planning (ISPT) meetings.

We are looking for qualified treatment staff to join our growing team in the provision of Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services.  If this is of interest to you, please see Contact information