A.C.T.S. Therapeutic Day Treatment Services
A.C.T.S. Therapeutic Day Services Program is a school-based clinical treatment program for children who are exhibiting ongoing behavioral/emotional functioning difficulties in the classroom/school environment, as well as at home and in the community. The goal is to provide clinically-based therapeutic interventions for children with emotional and behavioral problems within the school environment, utilizing an integrated team approach in collaboration with school personnel, as well as utilizing a family-focused approach to develop family support and involvement in the treatment process. Services include therapeutic groups, one-to-one counseling sessions, and family sessions, to improve problem-solving skills, anger management skills, community responsibility/involvement, impulse control, and peer relationships.All A.C.T.S. programs and services are clinically-based therapeutic services, with oversight by a nationally recognized licensed clinical psychologist and two licensed clinical social workers, to provide the clinical management and resources to ensure effective clinical and evidenced-based services, based on current best practices per licensing, Medicaid, and such nationally recognized professional associations as the American Psychological Association (APA), and National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Association for the Dually Diagnosed (NADD), among others.
GOALS
- to assist children/adolescents in achieving a stable, healthy school environment by reducing or eliminating problematic behaviors or emotional conditions
- to successfully prevent out-of-school placements
- to conduct comprehensive assessments that accurately identify problem areas and needs
- to utilize short-term, solution focused treatment strategies to strengthen healthy child/adolescent functioning at school
- to enhance service effectiveness through cultural competency, a with the utilization of a cross-cultural approach in treatment
- to offer a variety of services that can comprehensively meet the individual needs of children and adolescents
- to take advantage of existing strengths, formal and informal supports, and resources within the school system and the community in order to bring about positive emotional and behavioral changes with service recipients
- to assist service recipients in building skills to enhance healthy functioning
- to closely coordinate and collaborate with other case-involved service providers in order to best serve the interests of service recipients
- to empower service recipients to competently participate in treatment decision-making
- to provide care, treatment, training, habilitation, and other supports
- to use a team approach during the treatment process in order to gain the benefits of colleagues' individual areas of expertise
A.C.T.S. Therapeutic Day treats children between the ages of 5 and 16 years who have a mental health diagnosis. Children receive treatment for behavioral and emotional challenges while developing the necessary skills needed to succeed in school and the community. Parents and guardians are seen as an integral part of each child's treatment. They are involved in parent support groups, parenting education groups and any family meetings required for their child. The treatment program offers a highly structured clinical approach based on the principles of cognitive behavior counseling, and psychotherapeutic education, and behavior modification. The child also participates in daily therapeutic groups, which address a variety of issues including pro-social skills, anger management, and self-esteem.
Every child's treatment plan is developed to meet the individual needs of the child and reviewed every 30 days to assess for meeting set time frames and for effectiveness and appropriateness of treatment focus. Goals are developed by the staff, the child, and the parent in order to insure that the emotional and behavioral difficulties of each child are being addressed and appropriate goals are set. A child's treatment typically lasts for approximately one year, or until goals are met to the satisfaction of client, family, and provider, in the ongoing treatment planning process.
Admission Criteria
Children must either require year round treatment to realize emotional or behavioral improvement, or have severe emotional or behavioral difficulty which cannot be managed in a self-contained classroom (ED), without programming within each school each day, or would otherwise be placed on homebound or alternative out-of-school placement, with functioning problems to include peer relations, social skills, authority relationships, hyperactivity, impulse control, depression, problems with effective reality perception and connectedness. The child must be at at-risk for out-of-home placement or psychiatric hospitalization, due to ongoing conflicts with others in the community or at home with guardians/family members, with repeated interventions by the courts, social services, mental health agencies, and/or show significant cognitive deficits, causing difficulty with recognition of personal danger or seriously inappropriate social behavior. The child will present with an Axis I diagnosis, while displaying behavior that is significantly different from most children their age, with major functional impairments in life activities, which have become disabling over time, which is not the primary result of a developmental disability or mental retardation.Children may have a DSM Axis II diagnosis of Mild Mental Retardation (IQ must be 65 or above), providing they've demonstrated an ability to understand the behavior modification system and treatment planning process in place. The child's ability to function, communicate, and understand the treatment concepts will be assessed and determined during the initial intake assessment held prior to admittance in the program by a QMHP, and qualified and approved by a licensed clinician. The assessment will be reviewed at least yearly, and the treatment plan will be developed with child and guardian, with 30 day reviews by a QMHP and further reviewed by a licensed clinician.
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
804.526.7854