The Child, Adolescent and Parent Services Program (CAPS) provides comprehensive services
to children and adolescents ages 3 through 17 with a diagnosis of mental
illness, who may exhibit an emotional, behavioral or mental disorder with a
serious functional impairment.
Eligibility Criteria:
CAPS serves children and adolescents who are:
Age 3 through 17 years old with their parent or legal guardian
Must have a diagnosis of mental illness and exhibits a serious emotional
disturbance behavioral or mental disorders and who:
- have a serious functional impairment.
- are at risk of disruption of a preferred living or child care environment due to psychiatric symptoms; or.
- are enrolled in a school system's special education program because of a serious emotional disturbance.
Prior inpatient psychiatric hospitalization.
At risk of placement outside of the home/community.
At risk of expulsion from school
Note: Primary diagnosis of substance abuse, mental retardation, autism, and developmental
disorder are beyond the scope of the CAPS Program. Appropriate referrals will be made to community providers.
Needed Documentation:
The following items are required for your appointment:
Birth Certificate and/or legal proof of guardianship/custody
Social Security card number
Financial statement of family income (income tax forms, pay stubs, etc.)
Referrals to the CAPS Program come from:
Walk-ins
School Counselors
Juvenile Justice
Private Physicians
Hospitals
Texas Resiliency and Recovery Program
Services to children and adolescents are provided using the Texas Resiliency and Recovery Program model provided by the
Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Resiliency and Recovery Program is an effort to redesign the way public mental health
services are delivered to children and adolescents with a diagnosis of mental illness, who may exhibit an emotional, behavioral or mental disorder with a
serious functional impairment. One primary aim is to ensure the provision of interventions with empirical support to eliminate or mange symptoms and
promote recovery from psychiatric disorders. Other aims of this project include:
Establishing who is eligible to receive services.
Establishing ways to manage the use of services.
Measuring clinical outcomes or the impact of services.
Determining how much these services should cost.
FEES:
The CAPS Program utilizes a sliding fee scale to determine ability to pay.
Inability to pay will NOT exclude a family from receiving services. Medicaid and private insurance are accepted.
Services
Based upon the assessment, the array of services may include the following.
Hotline
A continuously available telephone service that provides information,
support, referrals, screening and intervention that responds to callers 24
hours per day, 7 days per week.
Crisis Hotline # 1-800-643-1102
Screening
An activity performed by professional to gather information through face-to-face
or telephone interviews with the individual or caregiver to determine the
need for an in-depth assessment.
Pre-Admission Assessment
A licensed professional will meet with you and your child face-to-face to ask
you questions about your child's mental health, emotional and behavioral
development, their schoolwork and other information for the purpose of
determining eligibility for services.
Case Management
Primarily site-based services that assist a child/adolescent, or caregiver
in obtaining and coordinating access to necessary care and services appropriate
to the individual's needs.
Intensive Case Management
Activities to assist a client and their caregiver obtain and coordinate access
to necessary care and services appropriate to the individual's needs.
Wraparound Planning is used to develop the Case Management Plan.
Counseling
Individual, family and group therapy focused on the reduction or elimination
of a client's symptoms of emotional disturbance and increasing the
individual's ability to perform activities of daily living.
Provision of Medication
A service provided by a physician or other prescribing professional which
focuses on the use of medications to treat a client's symptoms of mental illness.
Medication Training and Support
Instruction and guidance in the use of medication and provided within a patient/family education program.
Mobil Crisis Outreach Team - MCOT
The Mobil Crisis Outreach Team staff goes into the community to provide
emergency care to individuals in mental health crisis when they are unable to
make it into an office setting. Staff may go into homes, schools or other community settings.
Jail Diversion
The child/adolescent jail diversion program is designed for the early
identification of individuals with serious mental illness and serious
emotional disturbances who have been placed in the criminal and juvenile
justice systems.
Rehabilitation Skills Training
Training provided to address the serious emotional disturbance and
symptom-related problems that interfere with the individual's functioning,
provides opportunities for the individual to acquire and improve skills
needed to function as appropriately and independently as possible in the community.
Flexible Community Supports
Funding available to purchase non-clinical community supports to
augment the service plan to reduce symptomatology and maintain quality of
life and family integration. Community supports include but are not limited to:
tutors, family aides, specialized camps, child-oriented activities,
transportation services, and temporary child care.
Family Case Management
Activities designed to assist the client's family members in accessing and
coordinating necessary care and services appropriate to the family members needs.
Family Training
Training provided to the client's primary caregivers to assist the
caregivers in coping and managing the client's emotional disturbance.
Family Partner
Individuals who are experienced and trained parents or caregivers of a child
or adolescent with a serious emotional disturbance. Family Partners are
instrumental in engaging families in services, providing peer mentoring and
support, model self-advocacy skills and assist in the identification of support systems.
Parent Support Groups
Routinely scheduled support and informational meetings for the client's primary caregiver.
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