ACCESSING CFBHS SERVICES
Child and Family Behavioral Health Services (CFBHS) receives families, youth and allied professionals at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Dr., 7th Floor. CFBHS also provides in-person services in schools, the Juvenile Detention Center, Teen Wellness Center and client homes. Virtual services offered as needed to meet community needs.
Families can walk in for an intake assessment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9-10:30 a.m. Four intakes are available each morning on a first come, first served basis; families can arrive as early as 8:30 a.m. An intake can take two-to-three hours; the third or fourth intakes of the morning will take longer. It is highly recommended to call ahead at 571.213.7963 to ensure eligibility and minimize time spent at the appointment; messages are returned within one business day. To access school-based services at locations noted below, contact a member of that school’s student support team. To ensure access to those most in need, we prioritize youth who are most at risk and those with Medicaid or no insurance. Others are welcome to call for consultation and referrals. Services are provided in English and Spanish with access to other languages using video/telephone interpretation.
Behavioral Health Services for Children and Families
We engage youth with serious mental health, substance use or other behavioral challenges and/or significant trauma and their families in an array of services. In partnership with youth and families, services are designed to help children live and thrive in their homes and communities. As part of Alexandria’s System of Care, we coordinate closely with youth, families, their natural supports, and colleagues in Child Welfare, Juvenile Court System and Education to ensure that our integrated services prioritize family and youth voice and choice, cultural influences and equity, outcome-based work and collaboration.
Services include:
- Clinical assessment is a comprehensive evaluation that ensures the youth and family’s strengths, needs, history and preferences are taken into consideration to provide a behavioral health diagnosis and make bio-psycho-social service recommendations.
- Clinical case management services assist families with children with behavioral health challenges in accessing medical, psychiatric, social, educational, vocational, and other supports essential to meeting basic needs.
- Clinical consultation is one-time or ongoing consultation with system partners (Center for Alexandria’s Children, Juvenile Court, Child Welfare, Education, Family Assessment and Planning Team, etc.) regarding child & family behavioral health needs, resources and processes.
- Early intervention counseling is for youth in public middle and high schools whose mental health and/or substance use needs benefit from short term supportive counseling or for youth in detention who need support to manage the stress of being detained.
- FAPT Case Support provides guidance and administrative support to families seeking services funded through the Children’s Services Act by Alexandria’s Family Assessment and Planning Team (FAPT) when Child Welfare, Court Service Unit or ACPS are not involved.
- High Fidelity Wraparound Intensive Care Coordination is a structured, evidence based, team-based collaborative planning process that develops and carries out individualized care plans for children with serious behavioral health challenges and their families who are at risk of or returning home from congregate care.
- Hospital discharge planning ensures that youth hospitalized for psychiatric reasons are linked to appropriate services upon discharge.
- Independent Assessment Certification and Coordination Team (IACCT) provides assessment and recommendations when psychiatric residential treatment is a consideration for youth with Medicaid or funding from the Children’s Services Act.
- Individual and family therapy includes treatment practices that are trauma-informed and based on research and evidence such as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and elements of Multi Systemic Therapy.
- Peer support via Family Support Partners who engage parent/guardian in individual or group services that support family voice and choice, increase family engagement in child’s services and build natural support with the goal of self-sufficiency; FSPs are professionals with personal experience having navigated child serving systems with children in their care.
- Psychological testing is helpful when more information about a child is needed to determine the best possible treatment plan; it may include cognitive, academic, neuropsychological and/or social emotional functioning testing.
- Psychiatry services for children and youth include evaluation and medication management.
- Residential assessment provides assessment for medical necessity and recommendations when residential treatment is a consideration for youth with Medicaid or funding from the Children’s Services Act.
Service LocationS and Eligibility
- Del Pepper Community Center, Seventh Floor
- Alexandria City High School (ACHS) King Street and Minnie Howard Campuses
- Teen Wellness Center, ACHS King Street
- George Washington and Francis C. Hammond middle schools
- Jefferson Houston PreK-8 IB School
- Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center & ShelterCare
- Community – including family homes
To be eligible for services, a child must:
- have a legal guardian who is a resident of the City of Alexandria
- be between the ages of 5 and 21
- have an IQ score of 70 or above, and
- meet at least one of the following:
- diagnosis of a serious emotional disturbance or substance abuse disorder
- behaviors that impair functioning that stem from trauma or attachment issues
- involvement with Child Welfare or Juvenile Justice or
- is at risk for or placement in or is returning to the community from detention, a residential treatment program or a foster care placement
To ensure access to those most in need, we prioritize youth who are most at risk and those without insurance.