Welcome to FamilyCare Counseling Solutions, LLC. On the following pages you will find information about The Counseling Center and about our services.

You are asked to read this handbook carefully and to ask any questions you may have. We recommend that you keep this handbook for future reference.

WHO IS FAMILYCARE? 

FamilyCare's Center for Family and Recovery Counseling Services is located at the Fifth Street Business Center next to Goebel Park in Covington, KY. What sets us apart from other service providers in the area is our unique approach offering family-based wraparound services, addressing a spectrum of needs and issues from addiction to mental health and youth behavior challenges, as well as our collaborative approach with school personnel, cabinet workers, the courts, and attorneys. 

We act as a Recovery Access Point Promoting Healthy Family Functioning . We help clients connect to the appropriate level of care, offer assistance with mental health & drug/alcohol recovery information, and provide referrals for treatment options in our community. Our programs and services promote and support healthy family functioning, and create a nurturing environment where everyone can flourish. 

FamilyCare is dedicated to Fostering Positive Development & Building Resilience  in every individual we serve. We believe in the power of growth, encouraging individuals to reach their full potential and embrace a brighter future. Resilience is not just a buzzword; it's a skill we help cultivate. Our approach empowers individuals to bounce back from life's challenges, building a foundation of strength and perseverance.

Our Family-Based Wraparound Counseling Services   are tailored to provide holistic support for youth facing chronic or severe mental health concerns, at risk of out-of-home placement due to truancy or neglect/abuse, or recovering from recent hospitalizations. We aim to enhance safety and stability within the family unit ensuring that youth and adults can thrive successfully at home and school settings. We don't just treat symptoms; we are Breaking the Cycle of challenges.

LOCATION

525 W. 5th St. Suite 116 Covington, KY 41011

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE HOURS OF OPERATION

Mon. 9 am – 6 pm 

Tues. 9 am – 6 pm  

Wed. 9 am – 6 pm  

Thurs. 9 am – 6 pm  

Fri. 9 am – 6 pm 

*Treatment Hours Varies Evenings & Weekends*

The Positive Vibes School-Based program is designed to provide behavioral health therapy services to students and their families in school settings. The purpose of the program is to empower students to take control of their mental health and equip them with tools to manage stress and anxiety to express their emotions in a healthy way. 

Our behavioral services are available on-site at select school districts in Northern Kentucky. Services are offered to children and youth grades K-12 with the average length of service being 6-9 months, but could be longer depending on factors such as severity or lack of progress. 

Treatment predominantly takes place in the school setting but may include wrap-around services (Targeted Case Management Services) taking place in the office, community, and/or home settings depending on what is agreed upon by the parent and therapist during the assessment and treatment planning. Counseling may continue during the summer months in the office setting if needed. 

WHAT ARE THE GOALS?  

• Improve psycho-social health and school success in students
• Remove barriers such as transportation & scheduling difficulties, providing accessibility
• Allow students to work with therapists in the environment they often struggle the most; school
• Increase communication between the family and school
• Increase academic and social support

WHO IS ELIGIBLE? 

• Individuals/families who have qualifying Medicaid insurance (office verifies this for the client)
• Students who are experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health concern
• Students with behavioral problems in the classroom
• Students who have received a referral from the school social worker for mental health services

They do not need to be receiving special education services or have an individualized education plan (IEP). They do need to show symptoms and behaviors that warrant a moderate or severe mental diagnosis such as major depressive disorder, anxiety, and PTSD/trauma. A lot of times we see children who may qualify for services when there are significant behavior issues such as truancy, aggression, bullying, removal from the home, cabinet/family court involvement, hospitalizations, etc

WHAT DOES ADMISSIONS LOOK LIKE? 

FamilyCare Counseling Solutions does not discriminate in providing Intake and Reopen services.

Individuals may be self referred or referred by another agency, health care provider, school, court, clergy, etc.

When you arrive, a staff member will be ready and waiting to meet you in-person or telehealth. The Intake Coordinator will complete the intake process and assistance filling out essential screening inventories to gather baseline data.  
You will complete the in-person Comprehensive Assessment. This is a thorough screening administered by a licensed professional. This is our chance to learn more about you and your unique circumstances. A clinical staff member will confirm you’re at the appropriate level of care, psychologically and emotionally ready to receive the treatment that best meets your needs.

Once the assessment is completed, the Intake Coordinator will provide you with an orientation and a welcome packet and walk you through our policies and procedures, program and services expectations, and where you will receive treatment. Participants at all levels of care will receive specific details relevant to their level of care.

Individuals must meet the admission criteria for the program they are requesting.  Following the initial diagnostic assessment, an individual may be referred to a different internal program or service, or given information and/or a referral to an outside resource that may meet his/her or the family’s needs.

If the individual requests a service during screening that the outpatient center cannot provide, the screener will make every effort to provide helpful resource information to the individual.

WHAT IS THE INTAKE PROCESS?  

When a student has been referred for school-based mental health services the guardian and student will meet with the admission department via telehealth or in person at the office where a therapist will establish a need for services, create a routine schedule, and recommend any additional services that may be helpful to the family

Once we schedule the intake, the parent/guardian will complete the registration/intake forms before the assessment appointment. We have multiple assessment times available where we can achieve this quickly within a week or less, depending on the timely response of the parent/guardian. The admissions department would send a courtesy email update to all parties involved with scheduling attempts, including once the assessment is scheduled with a confirmation email. We also ask for some inventories to be completed on an as-needed basis based on the presenting problems to assist us in understanding the issues and expedite the assessment process. 

Our admissions department does a great job of keeping all parties updated during this process so everyone knows what is going on. We always include referral sources in these email communications with the parent/guardians so the school can stay current on where the child is starting school-based services.

Once the assessment is completed, your admissions team will provide you with a level of care and treatment recommendations. You can find comfort in the knowledge you’re surrounded by dedicated and compassionate professionals committed to one thing: Recovery is Possible! 

You and your child can be referred to

• Individual Counseling: Private, one-to-one sessions with a licensed therapist to help resolve your childs presenting problems and concerns.
• Family Counseling:  This may be offered on an as needed basis. Parents and children working together with a licensed therapist to help the family get along better or simply help the guardian with parenting coaching/behavior modification.
• Targeted Case Management: Your personal Care Navigator to act as the liasion between you, your child, school, and the counselor. This allows the counselor to focus on the clinical treatment.  This service is included and can be very helpful with service coordination to get you where you need to be. The Care Navigator will help not only as the liasion but can link community support based on identified needs. We provide connections to self-help groups, food, housing, transportation, employment, recreation, educational needs, and disability benefits, to name a few. The best way to think of this service is the Care Navigator is the Nurse and the Counselor as the doctor.

Services are only offered to qualified participants who are enrolled in Medicaid.

Sessions are held primarly at the school, but can be held online or in the office especially during breaks. focus on the negative effects of chemical use; provide direction to assist the client in leading a more fulfilled life; and assist the client in understanding the problems related to use.

Once the student begins school-based services, the treatment team (therapist & case manager) will send weekly updates to the school's primary point of contact/counselor.

WHAT DOES TREATMENT SERVICES LOOK LIKE? 

We call this the Psychotherapy Phase and it is when the student engages in treatment services and receives counseling on a weekly, biweekly, monthly basis and receives Targeted Case Management as needed. The therapist will hold service plan reviews quarterly to assess progress or lack of progress. During this phase, the therapist and case manager will encourage guardian involvement by implementing interventions such as parent coaching, behavior modification, and family counseling as needed to improve symptoms/behaviors that may be contributing to behaviors/symptoms in the school setting. 

Therapists and case managers will collaborate with guardians, teachers, school social workers, and staff to aid the students in working toward their individual goals. The therapist and case manager use this collateral information to determine step down from weekly, biweekly, or discharge. Our agency does its best to use multiple communications to prepare parents for receiving feedback about their child. 

The therapist can assist the teachers if requested by school staff on how to manage symptoms/behaviors in the classroom if needed. The primary contact will need to communicate such needs. 

TREATMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT

Your Treatment Plan or Individual Service Plan will be developed with you, and your goals will be based on the problems you want to work on.  We will work with you to plan the steps to be taken to reach those goals.

If you are involved with more than one service, goals for all services will be included in your plan.

You have the option of having others, such as family members, involved in your treatment planning.

Treatment plans change as goals are accomplished and new goals are set.  

Outpatient Plans are reviewed at least every 90 days and revised whenever there is a change that affects your treatment.

You have a right to be provided a copy of your plan.  If you are not given a copy, please ask your provider for one.

*We do require the client and/or guardian to attend and participate in service planning meetings at least quarterly to keep services open. We can meet in-person at the school during the scheduled session, at the office, or online. If we do not get the treatment plan reviewed and signed by the guardian and student, it will cause a disruption to services, until it is reviewed and signed.**

What is the protocol if a crisis event should occur?  

In the event of a behavioral health crisis, the primary school contact notifies the agency's primary contact and the therapist will prioritize becoming available. The assigned therapist and assigned case manager would rearrange their schedule that day to assist/be present for the behavior issue/crisis and provide support as needed if there is a behavior issue or crisis. If the therapist is out or unavailable, the clinical supervisor will act as a backup to assist the targeted case manager. 

The therapist will follow all school protocols as well as work with the client, guardian, and school personnel to assess the student's risk and establish a safety goal plan. If there is a low risk of harm to self or others a basic safety plan will be shared with the guardian, student, and school counselors/primary contact. If the student is at high risk of hurting themself or others, the therapist with support from the school counselor and agency clinical supervisor will work on recommendations for hospitalization or other higher level of care such as increased counseling services if needed.

WHAT ABOUT CONFIDENTIALITY? 

We encourage parents/guardians to sign Release of Information (ROI’s) at the very start of services so school personnel and the agency can share information as needed so we can ensure the best support and care for the students. Confidentiality is important because it:

• Protects child’s privacy
• Meets ethical and legal requirements
• Allows child/family to be more comfortable with sharing personal information with clinicians 

We do reinforce the importance of information sharing and encourage guardians to sign the release of information as well as explain ethical/legal issues of confidentiality because sometimes guardians may not understand why such information cannot be shared by not always sharing information about a child's functioning with school or others unless a safety concern arises. 

We take your privacy very seriously.  By law, we are required to keep any information about you and your treatment strictly confidential.  It is important to the treatment process for you to feel free to discuss difficult personal matters.  We can release information about you only if you personally approve in writing.  The only exceptions to this policy are when elder or child abuse, neglect, or dependency are suspected; when the court orders release of information; or when a client threatens serious harm to self or others.  We have an obligation to protect the client, others, and the community.  Please see your Client Rights & Responsibilities in the Informed Consent for additional information.

WHAT DOES DISCHARGE LOOK LIKE? 

The goal is successful discharge. The therapist and care manager will determine when the client has made significant progress every quarter where the therapist will assess the baselines on established goals along with the collateral information and feedback collected from school counselors and parent/guardian. We do our best to ensure everyone is on the same page. The agency reserves the right to discharge a client at any time. 

DISMISSAL AND READMISSION

It is not the practice of FamilyCare Counseling Solutions to involuntarily dismiss or discharge clients from services.  There may, however, be severe circumstances or events which require action on the part of FamilyCare Counseling Solutions administration in order to protect employees and/or property, or to act in the best interest of the client.  These circumstances or events include threat of violence, violent behavior, property destruction, bringing illegal drugs or weapons onto Center property and other actions which could endanger clients, staff, or visitors of outpatient treatment centers. 

Each situation or event which occurs and may lead to involuntary dismissal/discharge will be thoroughly reviewed by clinical and administrative staff.  A decision to implement a plan to address the problem with the client or to discharge the client will be presented to the client.  In the case of discharge, FamilyCare Counseling Solutions will work with the client to access alternative services/resources if the client chooses to do so.

If the client requests to be readmitted at a later date, the case will be reviewed by the Owner/Site Director and the Clinical Supervisor prior to a decision regarding re-admission.

SCHEDULING STANDARDS  

Scheduling takes time to figure out. We know there will be bumps in the road. We understand there may be limitations such as: 

Missing class is a major barrier for students and teachers
May be more difficult to find an available room
Clinicians may have to wait for school staff to track down student
Some parents may be upset to learn that their child may be distressed
Some parents may be dismissive of concerns or suspicious of intervention. 
We will do our best to work with the primary school contact and other school staff to accommodate scheduling needs:  

• During elective classes or lunch
• Accommodate testing, student illness, or minimize specific classes missed 

We will always do our best to limit the number of sessions missed for a particular class as well as limit any school activity to prevent disruption to the school day operations. We ask that we try to be as open as possible to seeing the students on different days as needed to prevent these types of issues. For schools where space is a barrier or there are unforeseen issues, we may need to consider scheduling after school instead as a last resort. If available, it would be helpful if a counselor can utilize the gym or alternative room for activities if available. 

What about the Summer Months? Will behavioral services continue?  

In the summer months, school-based therapy services can continue and therapists have the flexibility to meet with students at the office, telehealth, or community locations. It sets us apart from other service providers to have services and support that can continue outside of school during school breaks and summer breaks to avoid disruption to progress. We want to make sure we continue the work to complete treatment goals. 

We will strongly encourage that we continue service and schedule appointments during school breaks and summer.

COMMUNCATION STANDARDS 

For Parents/Guardians: It is best to stay in contact with your assigned Therapist and Care Navigator.

• Keep the Therapist & Care Navigator updated with progress or recent regression toward goals. This can be done in-person or via phone call/email updates. 
• If you schedule family counseling, please maintain regular attendance. 
• Maintain at least monthly contact with your Care Navigator. This can be done in-person at the school during the scheduled session, at the office or online. 
• Attend and participate in service planning meetings at least quarterly to keep services open. This can be done in-person at the school during the scheduled session, at the office, or online. If we do not get the treatment plan reviewed and signed by the guardian and student, it will cause a disruption to services, until it is reviewed and signed.
• Please do your best to notify your Care Navigator/Therapist if you child will be out of school for a doctor appointment/illness/vacation. 
• Please schedule counseling appointments with your Care Navigator/Therapist during school breaks ahead of time to ensure your secure your spot as spots fill up quickly. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF I MISS AN APPOINTMENT?

The services offered are valuable and the time set aside for you is also valuable.  Regular attendance at scheduled appointments is important to your progress.  If you are unable to keep an appointment, you are expected to call and cancel at least 24 hours in advance, or as soon as you know you will not be able to keep your appointment.  This courtesy enables us to move another person into that time slot.  If you miss an appointment due to circumstances beyond your control, please call us as soon as possible to reschedule.  Should you repeatedly miss appointments without canceling, we will need to discuss the situation with you prior to scheduling additional appointments and your case may be closed. 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your services, please contact Derrick Trammell, Managing Director/Clinical Supervisor at 859-391-4510. The therapist will provide the parent/guardian with work email and work cell phone contact information.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR SERVICES

A Client Fee Agreement will be completed with you.  If you are responsible for paying your fee or part of your fee, a sliding fee scale may be used to determine what part of the fee you are responsible for.  You will be asked to sign this agreement.  You may ask for a copy of your fee agreement at Intake or any time thereafter. You may be asked to provide a credit/debit card on file. 

INPUT FROM OUR CLIENTS

FamilyCare Counseling Solutions has a system to continuously obtain and review information from clients regarding the Quality of Care they received.  We strive for continued improvement of its services to clients and the community.

Input from clients is collected for review by the administrative staff using a Satisfaction Survey every quarter and following discharge from services.  Participation in the Satisfaction Survey is not required but is strongly encouraged.  Satisfaction Surveys are sometimes mailed to clients, or clients are contacted by phone, depending on the situation and the client’s preference.

Clients may also submit comments and suggestions by asking to speak to someone who can answer their question or listen to their comment or concern.
 

I have read and understand the policies as set forth in the Orientation Handbook.