RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT:
CLINICAL SUPPORT

Service Category - Child & Family Intervention Service

Service

• Assessment/Referral
• Consultation Services
• Counselling Services

Target Group
Service is provided to children and adolescents within the age range of 6-17 years and their families who are experiencing mental health difficulties so severe they have been referred for Residential placement.

Referral Source
Referrals are received from parents, adolescent (over 12 years of age), physicians, and other service providers. All referrals are processed through an Intake Worker. Inappropriate referrals shall be redirected to other Children's Centre - Thunder Bay Programs or to other children's service providers.

Client Description
Clients can generically be described as having emotional, social and/or behaviourial problems to a degree that they are identified as unmanageable by the family system, exceptional in the educational system and having special needs or hard to serve in the children's services network.

Many of the children experience severe behaviourial and emotional problems with hyperactivity, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and other problems. Most of their families have to cope with a number of problems such as financial instability, depression, marital problems, and traumatic life experiences, to name only a few.

Admission Criteria
Admission for services of the Clinical Support Team, which primarily works with children and families in the Residential Programs, include the following factors or a combination of:

• Previous less intrusive interventions have been shown to be unsuccessful in ameliorating the problems of the child/family/school.
• Identification by both internal and external service providers of the need for a multidisciplinary assessment to address complex problem situations.
• Identification of need by other service providers that presenting problems warrant removal of the child from the family or school placement in order to address the emotional, social and/or behaviourial problems exhibited by the child.
• Parent/guardian is supportive of and participates in the treatment process.

Discharge Criteria
Discharge from services by the Clinical Support Team would coincide with discharge from the Residential Programs, unless it was agreed at the time of discharge that therapy or support services would constitute part of the discharge plan.

Discharge from therapy or support services is warranted if intervention was successful in enabling the child and family to manage the problems with no support or by involving a less intrusive service available within the community.

Discharge from these services would also be warranted if the child has the right to refuse services (over the age of 12) or it is deemed the child is unable to make use of the services because of motivational, cognitive or diagnostic reasons.

Mandate
The Clinical Support Team provides a multidisciplinary assessment, treatment and consultation to children/youth and families involved in the Short Term Assessment and Treatment (S.T.A.T.) Unit and the Community-Based Residential Program. In addition, the Clinical Support Team provides consultation to Agency Program staff and other service providers with respect to children and families that present with severe social, emotional and behaviourial difficulties.

Program Responsibilities

• Complete a multidisciplinary assessment on all clients referred to Residential programs identifying specific areas for therapeutic intervention.
• Negotiate Service Agreements with clients, including Agency and client responsibilities, prior to admission to Residential treatment services.
• Develop, implement and evaluate individual treatment plans relative to the identified goals in conjunction with the multidisciplinary team.
• Facilitate the coordination of treatment between Programs and with other professionals through an effective case management system.
• Provide individual, couple, group and family treatment as determined by the treatment team.
• Provide consultation to Child and Youth Workers as well as other service providers with respect to youth and their families.
• Ensure effective discharge planning for all children and adolescents throughout the assessment and treatment process.
• Provide a follow-up service to youth and their families for approximately a three month period following discharge from Residential treatment services.
• Provide training to Child and Youth Workers, other Agency staff, and to other service providers on select topics as requested.
• Provide training and field practice opportunities for students from colleges and universities.
• Contribute to research and evaluation endeavor.
• Ensure that the rights of all clients are respected in accordance with legislation and the Centre's standards, policies, and procedures.
• Provide community education on selected topics in order to promote both awareness and prevention on mental health issues.

Scheduled Days of Service & Duration
Service is provided throughout the calendar year with scheduled days of service including Monday to Friday, generally between the hours 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Exceptions do occur regularly to accommodate the availability of the client.

Follow-up Provision
Clinical Support Team follow-up service, specifically for assessment/referral services, is provided in the form of case conference or consultation to other program areas regarding specific recommendations derived from the assessment. Follow-up services are provided for up to three months following a child's discharge from the Residential Treatment Program.

Waiting List
The process of referral and assessment by the Clinical Support Team accommodates bi-weekly multidisciplinary assessments which are scheduled and ongoing. Presently, the waiting period would be approximately one month for the assessment to occur.