Outpatient Services

The Child Center's Outpatient program provides psychiatric outpatient treatment services to Lane County children, both boys and girls, 1-18 years of age and their families. Treatment services are individualized and include a full array of family and adult services. New in 1998 are services targeted solely towards adults. This is a fee for service program with some scholarship money available for those without a medical card, insurance or other means to pay.

All children accepted into the program meet criteria for a DSM IV axis I diagnosis. These children demonstrate impaired functioning in two or more areas of their life or in a single area to a degree that causes significant concern. Their disturbance is generally apparent to someone seeing them at a time when they are manifesting dysfunctional problematic behavior. They have a CGAS (Child Global Assessment Score) of less than 65, or a CASII score of less than 19. Many of the children have multiple diagnoses. All of them have experienced a significant disruption in level of functioning compared with peers and a normal course of child development. Often these children have been experiencing mental and emotional disturbances for at least one year. In cases where the disturbance has lasted less than one year, they present substantial risk of developing a long term emotional disturbance; harming themselves; or harming others if they do not receive treatment.

The children and adolescents served by this brief outpatient therapy program may live at home with parents, in single parent households, in foster care, with relatives, in blended step families, other arrangement, or be homeless. Many of these clients have already come to the attention of one or more agencies before being referred for treatment. These agencies are often those who provide health care, education, juvenile justice, protective services, early education and prevention services.

Family participation and adult services are a crucial component of the overall treatment program.