Richland County Child Services

CHILDREN, ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY SERVICES (CAF)

Clinic-based Outpatient Services

• Provides individual, family, and group therapy to children and adolescents 3-18 years of age (also serve children up to the age of 21 who are in transitional services through school districts) who present with emotional, behavioral, or psychiatric problems.

School Mental Health Services

• CAF’s largest community-based program.
• Provides an avenue to increase accessibility of mental health services (individual, family, and group therapy) in a non-stigmatizing environment, provide early intervention and prevention services, and consult with teachers and school staff to advocate for the social, emotional, and psychiatric needs of children in educational settings.
• Provides psychosocial rehabilitation services during the summer to children who otherwise would not be able to be maintained in traditional summer camp settings.
• Providing services within schools has been essential for reaching children and families in the rural portions of our county, particularly in the Lower Richland area.
• Involved in all three school districts that serve students in Richland County.

Crisis Services

• Provides assessment and referral of youth who present in acute psychiatric, emotional, or behavioral distress.
• Youth are evaluated to determine the appropriate level of care and intervention (i.e., acute hospitalization, referral for ongoing therapy).
• Program also provides consultation to local emergency rooms either through face-to-face (PRISMA Health Richland only) or telephone contact during the day.

Child Welfare Program

• In partnership with South Carolina Department of Social Services (DSS), a clinician is embedded in the Richland County DSS office to provide treatment to youth who are dealing with the ramifications of abuse and neglect.
• Program is designed to provide immediate assessment and counseling services to youth who enter protective custody to minimize the need for therapeutic placement, to enhance potential for the child’s successful reunification with his/her family; or to assist the child in the processing and acceptance of the permanent placement decision that may be made for them.
• Clinician provides services to children in DSS custody placed in Richland County.

Infant and Early Childhood Evaluation and Treatment Clinic

• Provides assessment and treatment for children ages 0-6 years who present with social, emotional, and/or behavioral disorders.
• Children who are in need of ongoing treatment also may receive medication monitoring in conjunction with individual and family therapy.
• Program serves all counties in South Carolina.
• William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute ran clinic until 2008 when Columbia Area Mental Health Center administratively adopted the program.

Developmental Disorders Clinic

• Provides a multidisciplinary evaluation for children who have, or are suspected to have Autism Spectrum Disorders.
• Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who are in need of ongoing treatment also may receive individual, family, and group therapy. Medication monitoring is also available and provided in conjunction with clinical services.
• Program serves all counties in South Carolina.
• William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute ran clinic until 2008 when Columbia Area Mental Health Center administratively adopted the program.

Case Management of Children in Out-of-Home Placement

• Monitors children placed in out-of-home placement to ensure children’s treatment needs are being met, and they are progressing in therapy.
• The program is deeply committed to providing youth with treatment in the least restrictive setting, based upon each individual’s needs, involving their family, and with proactive discharge planning.
• The case management program provides services for youth in out-of-home placements, up to age 21, who reside in Richland or Fairfield County.

Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)

• Multi-dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) is a comprehensive and multi-systemic family-based intervention. It is delivered through manualized treatment in a series of 12 to 16 weekly or twice weekly sessions.
• The treatment focuses on improving the youth’s interpersonal functioning with parents and peers, the parents’ parenting practices and level of parental functioning and communication between family members and key social systems (e.g., school, mental health, and juvenile justice).
• The model can be used with youth ages 9-26 years of age.

Metropolitan Child Advocacy Center (MetCAC)

• Is the only state-funded Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in South Carolina.
• Primary mission is to conduct forensic interviews and medical exams of children referred by local law enforcement and DSS agencies due to allegations of abuse or neglect.
• Most of the children seen each year are both medically examined and interviewed.
• Staff provide trainings across South Carolina.