Information for Families
| Paying for Treatment, Emergency Services , Outpatient Services, Day, Residential or Hospital Treatment, Advocacy, Relative Caregivers |
All children experience difficulties as they begin to grow up. At what point might parents need help? A good rule is that if the child’s behavior interferes with normal daily activities, it might be time to consult a professional.
- More about children’s mental health issues: Website Links for Families
- Children’s behavioral health screen: EPSDT Screen
- Surviving the Transition to Adulthood: A Field Guide for Families and Teens
There are many different kinds of professionals who can help with mental health and substance abuse problems. The easiest way to find a good therapist is to ask for advice. A good place to start is your child’s pediatrician or school counselor. Religious and cultural organizations can also suggest someone. There are other suggestions below.
How Will I Be Able to Pay for This?
No child in Delaware who needs mental health or substance abuse treatment will be denied access because of the inability to pay.
If you have health insurance:
Call the number on the back of your insurance card. Ask if you have coverage for behavioral health services. If you think your child may have a substance abuse problem, be sure to tell the person you want someone who specializes in that kind of a problem. Ask about the therapists who are nearest to where you live.
If you have Medicaid or Chip (See box below):
Use your Medicaid Insurance card the same way as described above.
If you cannot afford medical insurance for your child and you do not qualify for Medicaid, you may be eligible to buy very low-cost medical insurance through the State of Delaware Healthy Children Program For information call: |
If you are afraid you will be unable to afford services because you do not have Insurance or Medicaid:
The Division of Child Mental Health Services (CMH) provides a range of treatment services for children and adolescents up to their 18th birthday.
How the Division of Child Mental Health Services Can Help You
You should take suicidal thoughts or attempts seriously. Thoughts of killing or injuring someone are very serious too. Traumatic events, such as witnessing a murder or suicide, or being a victim of a violent crime can also be a crisis for your child. Call the CMH 24-hour Mobile Crisis number in this kind of emergency:
- Northern New Castle County 302-633-5128
- Southern New Castle County 1-800-969-4357 (H-e-l-p)
- Kent and Sussex Counties 302-424-4357 (H-e-l-p)
If your child is injured, call 911 to get medical help before calling the CMH crisis line.
When you call the crisis line, someone will ask your child’s age. They will ask you to describe the crisis. The person will arrange to come to your home or to meet you somewhere if help is needed right away. A therapist will talk to you and your child and help you develop a safety plan. They will also work with you to obtain other services.
COUNSELING FOR LESS URGENT PROBLEMS
Most of the time, outpatient services will be all that is needed to help with the problem. Appointments are about once a week.
To find an outpatient therapist near your home: Current Brochure
No one will be denied services because of inability to pay. You may be asked to contribute a small amount but not more than you can afford.
The provider will also ask about your child’s problems and how long they have been present. They will ask how often the behaviors occur and how intense they are. They do this to find out how quickly to provide help and who the best person to help would be.
Types of Behavioral Health Professionals/Therapists Licensed in Delaware
- Chemical Dependency Professionals have education and training in how to help people with alcohol and drug problems. They must complete a supervised internship and take a test before being licensed. In Delaware, this license is LCDP.
- Clinical Social Workers have education and training in how to help children and families with behavioral health problems. They must have a master’s degree, complete a supervised internship and take a test before being licensed. In Delaware, this license is LCSW.
- Counselors have education and training in how to help children and families with behavioral health problems. They must have a master’s degree, complete a supervised internship and take a test before being licensed. In Delaware, this license is LPCMH.
- Marriage and Family Therapists have similar education to social workers and counselors but they specialize in working with families. In Delaware, this license is LMFT.
- Nurse Practitioners are nurses who have extra training in a medical specialty, such as psychiatry. They can prescribe medication and often participate on a treatment team like a psychiatrist. In Delaware, this license is APN/CNS.
- Psychiatrists are doctors (M.D. or D.O) who specialize in treating people with mental health problems. Child psychiatrists have extra training working with children and adolescents. Psychiatrists can prescribe medication. They often work with other professionals to provide medication that will support the counseling you and your child receive.
- Psychologists have many years of education and training in assessing and treating mental health problems. They are the kind of behavioral health professional who can administer psychological tests. They are doctors (Ph.D.) but they do not prescribe medication.
Importance of the Family as Part of the Treatment Team
The parents are the most important members of a child’s treatment team. There are many different kinds of families. “Parents” are the people the child looks to in that role from day to day.
- Parents know more about their child than anyone.
- Parents know what works best with their child when trying to change behavior.
- Children look to their parents for guidance, support and example (even when it feels like they don’t).
- Parents can support the treatment at home. They will be able to tell the therapist if treatment is working and will be able to make suggestions for making it work better.
The treatment team may also include other helpers such as religious leaders, youth workers, school staff, etc. Since behavioral health treatment is confidential, a therapist would need a signed release from a parent before involving others as part of the team.
HELP FOR MORE INTENSE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
Sometimes your child’s problems may be more serious than can be safely treated in outpatient services. CMH offers a range of other services for children who have Medicaid or who are uninsured.
CMH believes that parents are very important in their child’s treatment. We always try to treat children in their communities when it is safe to do so. We provide different kinds of intensive community-based services. When a child cannot be safely treated at home, we offer residential treatment or psychiatric hospital until he/she can return home.
Call CMH Central Intake at 302-633-2571 or 1-800-722-7710 to request more intensive services for your child,
What Will Happen When You Call
An intake worker will ask about your child’s problems and how serious the problems may be.
Severity of the Problem - An example of different severity would be whether the child’s tantrum is just screaming or whether it turns into breaking things or seriously injuring someone.
Duration – Behavior problems may suddenly appear during times of stress. If a family is going through stressful times such as financial difficulties, serious illness or divorce, the problems may be related to the stress. In other cases, problems may have existed for a long time and may be getting worse.
Your family will be assigned to a Clinical Services Management Team when your case has been accepted.
Clinical Services Management Teams (CSMT) and How They Help
Each CSMT is headed by a licensed behavioral health professional. CMH also has a consulting Child Psychiatrist. This team works with you to decide what level of care would be best for your child.
A Clinical Services Coordinator (CSC) will meet with you and tell you more about how CMH works. The CSC will stay with you while your child is active with CMH.
The CSC will give you a booklet that tells how to contact him/her. Your CSC will let you know about your rights and responsibilities and how to make a complaint Child and Family Handbook
The CSC will coordinate with workers from other agencies to make sure that everyone is working together.
From time to time, you and your child may be asked to complete satisfaction forms. We want to know whether you are pleased with the services CMH is providing.
No system is perfect. Sometimes, there are gaps in services. People who speak up to make systems better are advocates. You can become your own advocate or you can obtain advocacy assistance. There are organizations that already exist for this purpose. CMH Advocacy Resources and Information
SUPPORT FOR INTERGENERATIONAL CAREGIVERS
Most behavioral health services are voluntary. That means that before treatment can begin, an informed consent to treat, signed by the parent is needed. Sometimes a grandparent or other relative is acting as parent for the child. Relative Caregivers may legally sign consent to treat if they obtain a Relative Caregivers’ Medical Authorization Affidavit. Call the Division of Service for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities at 1-800-223-9074. You can also visit their Website http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dsaapd/intergen.html . The process is very simple. It will help in obtaining behavioral health and physical health treatment for your child.
