Child & Family Services
Outpatient Counseling
Meridian provides outpatient counseling for children and families that can take place in their school (Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Transylvania counties) or at one of our office locations. Each client and family will receive a comprehensive assessment at intake to help identify and understand the issues impacting their functioning. Outpatient counseling may consist of individual, family and/or group psychotherapy and your therapist will be able to utilize evidence-based interventions to help each client and family achieve their goals.
Intensive In-Home
Intensive In-Home is a time-limited, intensive family preservation intervention intended to stabilize the living arrangement, promote reunification or prevent the utilization of out-of-home therapeutic resources (i.e., psychiatric hospital, therapeutic foster care, residential treatment facility).
This intervention uses a team approach designed to address the identified needs of children and adolescents who are transitioning from out of home placements or are at risk of out-of-home placement and need intensive interventions to remain stable in the community. This population has access to a variety of interventions twenty four hours a day, seven days per week by staff that will maintain contact and intervene as one organizational unit.
Team services are individually designed for each family, in full partnership with the family, to minimize intrusion, and maximize independence. Services are generally more intensive at the beginning of treatment and decrease over time as the youth and family's coping skills develop.
The team services are structured and delivered face-to-face to provide support and guidance in all areas of functional domains; adaptive, communication, psychosocial, problem solving, behavior management, etc.
For more information about Intensive In-Home please call our office at 828-631-3973.
Therapeutic Foster Care
The Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) program provides Level II placement for children and adolescents requiring out-of-home services due to violent/disruptive behavior and/or self-destructive behavior patterns. Clients are referred to the program by the Juvenile Justice Treatment Continuum team, social services, juvenile justice, other providers and parents.
A residential assessment is completed prior to placement documenting the referring behavior, establishing level of acuity and making initial recommendations for treatment. Children placed in TFC receive individual, group and family therapy along with Targeted Case Management focusing on life skills, processing conflicts and exploring healthy methods for managing personal needs. Regular clinical staffing and team meetings provide clinical oversight and coordination of treatment efforts toward step-down.
Therapeutic Foster Care parents provide a stable family environment, along with nurturing care that enables the child to experience personal growth and hope for the future. The clients will attend groups, family session with the therapeutic foster parent/parents and the biological parent/parents, individual session, team meetings and clinical staffing. TFC parents complete an initial 40 hour training program that includes: appropriate child development, effective parenting techniques, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and First Aid, dealing with abused/neglected children, crisis management, medication management, child’s rights and confidentiality.
For more information about Therapeutic Foster Care please call our office at 828-631-3973 or by email at shannon.ford@meridianbhs.org
INTERESTED IN BECOMING A THERAPEUTIC FOSTER CARE PARENT?
Meridian Behavioral Health Services continually is seeking individuals who are passionate about the holding hope for the youth in our communities. If you are interested in becoming Therapeutic Foster Parents please review the Therapeutic Foster Care brochure and the below information.
North Carolina Division of Social Services in conjunction with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has detailed information regarding becoming a licensed foster care parent. If you are thinking about becoming a therapeutic foster care parent please review and become familiar with the information provided around licensing at: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/dss/licensing/
For more information about becoming a Therapeutic Foster Parent please call our office at 828-631-3973 or by email at shannon.ford@meridianbhs.org
Therapeutic Foster Care Referral Form
Therapeutic Foster Care Brochure