Services That Support Children in Their Own Homes and Communities

In the last few years, there has been a shift in the delivery of children's mental health services toward an emphasis on helping families take care of their children at home. Family-Based Mental Health Services, Children's Intensive Case Management, and services available under EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment) support families in caring at home for children who have emotional disorders.

I. Children's Intensive Case Management

Intensive Case Management (ICM) is a service that assists children with emotional disorders and their families to obtain access to needed medical, social, educational, and other services. ICM offers families access to staff 24 hours a day/seven days per week for assistance and for crisis.

Intensive case managers assist children and their families in obtaining services described in treatment and service plans. They also assist families in obtaining entitlements.

II. Family-Based Mental Health Services

The Family-Based Mental Health Program provides mental health services to children and adolescents with emotional disorders and their families. The family-based program provides a variety of services to families in their home, including traditional therapy services and nontraditional services, such as respite services, transportation, and linkage with other service systems and community resources. The program serves children who are at risk of psychiatric hospitalization or out-of-home placement. This is a short-term program and provides transition to other community-based services.

Families can access the Family-Based Mental Health program through their Community Mental Health Center. Not all Community Mental Health Centers offer this service. Referrals are also taken from psychiatric hospitals and the judicial system.

III. Services Available Under EPSDT

Under EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment), a more flexible range of services are now available. The term "wraparound" is used to describe these flexible and individualized services designed to meet the specific needs of each child and his or her family. EPSDT provides screening, diagnosis, and treatment for physical or mental health problems. These and other existing services to children in their own home can provide support to children and their families that may prevent hospitalization or residential placement.

Under EPSDT, children who are eligible for Medical Assistance (MA) have access to any treatment considered medically necessary for physical or mental health problems. A psychiatrist or psychologist must evaluate the child as having a diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (Fourth Edition Text-Revised), or DSM-IV-TR, and recommend these services as medically necessary. Families can access these services.

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