Child Care Resource and Referral of Central Iowa

Effective July 1, 2004, the Child Guidance Center entered into a contract with the Iowa Department of Human Services to provide Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) services for the following Central Iowa counties:

Boone,
Dallas,
Hardin,
Jasper,
Madison,
Marion,
Marshall,
Polk,
Story, and
Warren.

CCR&R is not a clinical program but a health promotion/prevention service; it provides support and training for child care providers and consumers. CCR&R provides a variety of services for parents, child care providers, employers and community groups, including:

Services to parents
- Information and consultation on available child care options and cost factors,
- Referrals to providers,
- Information on child care, child development, early childhood education and
- Information about child care assistance and other family support options.
Services to child care providers
- Assistance for providers to obtain license or registration,
- Education and training to support professional growth,
- Referral of families needing child care services and
- Business and financial resources.
Services to employers
- Enhanced employee referral programs,
- Information about child care availability and cost factors and
- Parent education services.
Services to the community
- Data on family needs, available services and gaps in the system,
- Coordination of statewide child care programs and resources, and
- Information on child development, child development, early childhood education, quality care and related professional organizations.

Direct Clinical Services

Direct Clinical Services are comprised of six distinct mental health service areas:

Outpatient Therapy,
Evaluation, Assessment and Psychological Testing,
Psychiatric Services,
Functional Family Therapy,
Early Childhood Services, and
Central Iowa System of Care.

Direct Clinical Services coupled with mental health consultation and community education activities are core Child Guidance Center services.

Outpatient Therapy

Outpatient therapy is a clinical mental health service that may be a prevention or early intervention service, depending on the child and family’s circumstances and perspective. It is one of the least intrusive mental health interventions. Outpatient therapy is typically sought by families who believe their child is in need of mental health treatment or have been unable to successfully problem-solve on their own. Child Guidance Center uses a variety of individual, family and group psychotherapy methods. Consultation with the child psychiatrist, nurse practitioner and medication management is provided when medication is employed as a part of the overall treatment service.

Frequency of sessions is determined by the needs of the child and family. Therapy is designed to help the child and family solve the problems that motivated them to seek services by making the changes necessary to improve their daily functioning. Interventions focus on assets and enhance protective factors to mitigate risk.

Evaluation, Assessment and Psychological Testing

Evaluation and assessment services are sought by parents who need information and direction from a child mental health clinician. These parents: 1) have an emerging concern about their child or are beginning to experience difficulty and seek an early solution to prevent more serious problems; 2) are distressed and need direction to the most appropriate treatment service; or 3) experience major or critical problems and are in need of an immediate intervention. Evaluation and assessment services are time-limited and aimed at getting the family the guidance it needs to secure the most appropriate treatment service. This may include psychological evaluations or other types of formal assessment. Other consumers of evaluation and assessment services include the Juvenile Court, Family Court, or Department of Human Services. These entities seek information to support Court action initiated in the best interests of the child or to resolve disputes of visitation or custody.

Psychiatric Services

Psychiatric services include psychiatric evaluation, therapy and evaluation for medication prescription and medication management. Referral for psychiatric services is facilitated by the Child Guidance Center therapist assigned to each child and his/her family.

The Child Guidance Center believes people are capable of change and that the process of psychotherapy can provide the best opportunity for positive change. A variety of therapeutic techniques may be used. Psychiatric evaluation, medication prescription and management may be used to support or advance treatment, but not as a substitute for therapy. It is Child Guidance Center practice to provide medication management with therapy. Exceptions may be made under certain circumstances as determined the judgment of the psychiatrist and/or nurse practitioner, therapist and family.

Functional Family Therapy

Functional Family Therapy is an evidence-based family intervention program for youth ages 11–18 and their families. All referrals come directly from the 5th Judicial District Juvenile Court Services and target youth who are involved in Juvenile Court action due to delinquency and at-risk behaviors. Treatment is provided in the home and services range from eight to 30 sessions, depending on the family’s needs.

Early Childhood Services

Early childhood services provide therapeutic support to children and families during challenging developmental phases and life transitions. For children experiencing social, emotional and behavioral problems, therapy may be beneficial especially if the problems continue for more than six weeks, escalate or interfere with family life, education, child care or friendships. Early childhood services focus on improving transitions and targets a wide range of needs including: challenging behaviors, developmental delays, and social difficulties, reactions to trauma, parent-child conflicts or attachment problems.

Central Iowa System of Care

The Central Iowa System of Care is a team approach that assures better care for children and youth with serious emotional and behavioral challenges.

Programs and Services

Click the name of the program or service below for more details.

Direct clinical services

Direct Clinical Services are comprised of six distinct mental health service areas:

Outpatient therapy,
Evaluation, assessment and psychological testing,
Psychiatric services,
Functional Family Therapy,
Early childhood services, and
Central Iowa System of Care.

Direct Clinical Services coupled with mental health consultation and community education activities are core Child Guidance Center services.

School-based mental health services

School-based mental health services are key to the Child Guidance Center programs, and are outpatient mental health/early intervention services delivered in school to improve access to mental health services for children and families who would not otherwise access services.

Mental health consultation/education

Mental health consultation/education is the Child Guidance Center’s effort to provide specialized child mental health education and assistance to parents, educators, child care professionals and others who care for children or influence their social and emotional development

Child Care Resource and Referral of Central Iowa (CCR&R)

Child Care Resource and Referral of Central Iowa (CCR&R) is not a clinical program but a health promotion/prevention service; it provides support and training for child care providers and consumers. Effective July 1, 2004, the Child Guidance Center entered into a contract with the Iowa Department of Human Services to provide CCR&R services for several Central Iowa counties.

Evidence-Based Practices

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Discovery Work, including the IFSAP program
Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
Functional Family Therapy (FFT)
Inter Personal Therapy for Adolescents (IPT-A)
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

Mental Health Consultation/Education

Improve knowledge of children’s healthy emotional and social development and skills to enhance healthy development by providing training, consultation and education,
Improve recognition of the signs of children’s mental/emotional distress and assure action is taken to intervene before problem patterns are established,
Provide information, skills and assistance to parents dealing with children with mental or emotional problems,
Expand access to children’s mental health services by establishing links between trained child mental health professionals and individuals, organization and institutions that care for and educate children and support families,
Provide information and increase awareness and advocacy for children’s mental health with community planning groups,
Advance public policy support and improve the practice of community-based prevention and early intervention mental health services for children.

School-Based Mental Health Services

School-based mental health services are key to the Child Guidance Center programs. School-based mental health services are outpatient mental health/early intervention services delivered in school to improve access to mental health services for children and families who would not otherwise access services. Therapists are master’s-level, licensed mental health professionals employed, clinically supervised and supported by Child Guidance Center. Determining which child a School-Based Therapist serves and which is served at the Child Guidance Center office depends on the family’s ability to access the Center for service. Barriers to service access include: lack of reliable transportation; childcare issues; employment issues; unfamiliarity with the community; language and cultural issues; stigma related to seeking mental health services. In these cases, the children in need of service might not have access if the school-based mental health services were not available.

School-based mental health services go beyond the direct delivery of outpatient mental health services. Therapists provide on-site consultation and training for school staff in the field of children’s mental health. They establish and maintain links between educators, mental health and human service resources, all of whom support the family and enhance the academic and functional development of children who face school failure due to mental health problems. School-based mental health services expand the school’s team of professionals who understand the range of children’s developmental needs. Therapists are an important part of the school’s Family Support Teams or Behavioral Intervention Cadres that create and manage comprehensive prevention/early intervention care plans for children who have or are at risk of mental health problems.