Programs & Services
Major programs/services provided by Alliance members include the following:
- Foster Care
- Residential Treatment
- Partial Hospitalization
- Outpatient Mental Health Services
- School and Community-Based Mental Health Services
- Day Care and After-School Care
- Adoption Services
- Special Education Services
- Shelter Care
In addition to the above services, Alliance agencies provide no fewer than 30 specialized programs and services that respond to the individual needs of particular groups of children in the care of the County’s public child-serving systems. These include: in-home supported living services, family preservation services, aftercare, juvenile court diversion programs, mentoring, independent living, wraparound services, medically fragile foster care, sex offender treatment, crisis stabilization, autism services, and numerous other services.
Foster Care
In Cuyahoga County and across the country, there are various levels of foster care in which children are placed when it is determined that they cannot be adequately cared for in their own homes at a particular point in time.
In traditional foster care, youth are placed with adults who are not related to them who have been assessed, trained, and licensed to provide care and shelter. Youth who require a specialized level of care will be placed in treatment foster care, also known as therapeutic foster care. In treatment foster care, the foster family has been specially trained for children with specific behavioral health needs. These families often receive additional supports to help care for these children who may otherwise be in a residential treatment facility.
Alliance member agencies work with Cuyahoga County and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to train, assess, monitor, and assist foster parents across Cuyahoga County to care for Cuyahoga County youth who need out-of-home care.
Description provided by Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Residential Treatment
Some children have behavioral needs that require the structure and services of residential or group settings. These settings include community-based group homes, campus-style residential facilities, and secure facilities. Almost one-fifth of children in out-of-home care live in residential or group care.
Residential programs, and the staff who work in them, are focused on working with children who have certain special needs. Examples include community-based group homes for adolescent males who are involved in the juvenile justice system and residential campus facilities for children and youth with serious mental health problems. Residential programs often provide an array of services including therapeutic services for children and families, educational services, and medical services.
Description provided by Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Partial Hospitalization
Partial Hospitalization is a time-limited, ambulatory, active treatment program that offers therapeutically intensive, coordinated, and structured clinical services within a stable therapeutic milieu. This modality, or method of treatment, is an alternative to hospitalization and offers the flexibility to deal with a very wide range of conditions. Partial Hospitalization programs may be offered in many different settings, from free-standing, community-based programs to larger psychiatric or medical systems. To be a Partial Hospitalization program, the treatment must have a specified structure; be offered within a specific and limited timeframe; have clear guidelines for admission, evaluation, program and discharge; provide clinically appropriate treatment; and utilize professional staff. The use of Partial Hospitalization means that unnecessary, inappropriate — and costly — inpatient treatment may be avoided.
Definition accessed from the Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare.
Outpatient Mental Health Services
Alliance member agencies provide a variety of traditional outpatient mental health services for youth and adolescents who present symptoms of behavioral health disorders. These services include counseling and therapy, diagnostic evaluations, and medication management.
School and Community-based Mental Health Services
Along with the outpatient mental health services that are provided in a traditional outpatient clinical setting, Alliance members also provide mental health services in schools and in the community, allowing for more convenient access for families and youth who need these important services. Additionally, schools are often the place where the behavior disorder is first identified. By working in partnership with the schools, mental health providers are able to access and treat these youth early on to provide the most effective treatment possible.
Day Care and After-School Care
Many Alliance member agencies also provide traditional day care and after-school care to families in need of these services.
Adoption Services
Alliance member agencies provide a wide range of child-focused adoption services and support that begins before a child is placed in the home and continue through the post-legalization period. These services include home study reviews, peer support groups, in-home, adoption-sensitive family preservation services and family therapy.
Special Education Services
Many Alliance members also provide special education services, including day treatment programs for youth who have been diagnosed with an emotional disturbance in an integrated educational and mental health environment. These centers serve as both the school and the therapeutic treatment center for these children and youth. Additional services include operating schools dedicated to children with autism and training educators in the school system on how to work with children with special behavioral needs
Shelter Care
Shelter care is the temporary care of children in physically unrestricted facilities pending court adjudication or disposition.
