Our commitment at the Capital Health CARES program is to provide high-quality behavioral health diagnosis and compassionate treatment to children who do not require inpatient care but who require more than community resources in order to function successfully in a social environment.

The CARES program at Capital Health, in partnership with the Center for Family Guidance, offers children ages 3-21 an opportunity to improve their quality of life by identifying severe emotional, behavioral, or psychiatric needs and addressing them using the best possible treatment options.

CARES is open Monday through Friday, year-round, and offers two levels of care to serve children and their families.

Full Day, Acute Partial Hospitalization (children ages 5-14) and Therapeutic Nursery (children ages 3-4)
Children participate in the program during typical school hours and receive a complement of intensive therapeutic and academic services. They will participate in daily group therapy on topics such as self-esteem, anger management, identifying feelings, social skills, improving concentration, family dynamics, team building, and more. Each child is also assigned a licensed clinician who provides individual and family therapy once per week. During the school year, children receive one-to-one support from licensed teachers to complete the school work provided by their school. In most cases, door-to-door transportation and meals are provided for CARES children.

Outpatient (children ages 5-21)
Children meet with a therapist approximately once per week for individual and/or family therapy to help identify and resolve issues related to home, school, and social situations. Group therapy, monthly medication management (as needed), and psychiatric evaluations with a psychiatrist and or advanced practice nurse are also available.

A child may benefit from CARES if he or she:

• Struggles with keeping focus and attention, with or without hyperactivity.
• Lacks self-confidence and has a poor self-image.
• Struggles with anxiety disorders such as social or school phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder.
• Is suspected of having mood disorders including depression, bipolar disorder, or dysthymia.
• Presents with oppositional defiant behaviors such as talking back to adults and little to no respect for authority or property.
• Presents with aggression or abusive behaviors such as arguing, fighting, blaming others, or frequent discipline problems at school.
• Presents with emotional problems resulting from abuse, violence, divorce, separation, step-parenting, substance abuse, death, abandonment, or other life stressors.
• Has suicidal thoughts or self-abusive behavior.

The staff at the Capital Health CARES Program is a multidisciplinary team of trained counselors, licensed clinicians, academic instructors, a registered nurse, an advanced practice nurse, and a psychiatrist. Everyone on the team is committed to providing children and their families the tools they need to cope with and manage the challenges they face in their daily lives.

Age Groups	Children
Health Services	Behavioral / Mental Health Mental Health Crisis / Safety Crisis / Safety / Prevention
Treatment Services	Out-of-Home Services CCIS / Inpatient Outpatient Services Assessment / Evaluation
Payment Options	Medicaid
Language Spoken	Spanish

Last Updated: 10/06/23