Austin Child Guidance Center works with a number of other agencies in the city to deliver mental health services to children offsite. A current list of community collaborations are described below.

Next Step, an early intervention program that works with young children – pre-K through 1st grade – in small groups to help teach them to resolve conflicts, express their feelings in safe ways, and to learn how to make good choices or decisions. This program is carried out at Becker and Zavala Elementary and Fulmore Middle schools.

Substance Abuse Services Division, Travis County Juvenile Court seeks to substantially reduce juvenile drug use and delinquent behavior by developing an integrated, comprehensive treatment network for substance abusing, adjudicated juvenile offenders, ages 14 through 16, through intensive collaboration among juvenile justice service providers in Travis County. Center staff provides an array of mental health services: mental health screenings, psychiatric and psychological services, individual and family therapy, and multifamily therapy groups. We participate on the Assessment Review Team for cases and provide mental health consultation to the project. In addition we provide clinical consultation and training to staff.

TANDEM: Moving Forward Together, a Teen Prenatal/Parenting Program is a collaboration to promote optimal levels of health, educational and vocational achievement and social and family functioning and to reduce the risk of subsequent pregnancies among participating teenagers. The lead agency is Peoples Community Clinic. This project serves pregnant teenagers who enter prenatal care at People’s Community Clinic and teen fathers. ACGC staff provides mental health services including group therapy, individual/family therapy, psychological/psychiatric evaluations, as well as consultation to the project. Any Baby Can and Lifeworks also participate in this project.

Community Partners for Children (CPC) is a collaboration that provides intensive case management to children and families who have multiple needs that cannot be met by one agency. This collaboration (formed from a merger of three previous entities – Community Resource Coordination, TRIAD, and the Eligibility Referral Team of the Children’s Partnership) serves any Travis County child/teenager whose problems are too extensive for one agency alone. ACGC staff provides consultation and outpatient mental health services, psychological and psychiatric evaluations. CPC holds their twice a month meetings at the Center.

Crime Victims’ Recovery Project (CVRP) is a program that helps children and families recover from the psychological effects of crime, violence, and abuse. Any child or adolescent who was a victim or witness to crime or violence and their families are eligible for treatment services at no cost. Funding is provided by the Office of Texas Attorney General via of a grant that supports various staff positions that provide the service.

Travis County Leadership Academy is a program of the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center whereby Center staff provides individual and group services to adolescent clients at the Leadership Academy facility.

Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Project is collaborative project working to positively impact the mental health of our youngest children in local childcare and day care settings. Staff and graduate interns from The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work provide mental health consultation and intervention services to children within childcare centers and their families. In addition, childcare staff and administrators receive training and consultations on how to identify and help children with mental health concerns.

Thank you to the Dell Foundation, United Way Capital Area, Seawell Elam Foundation, St. Luke’s Episcopal Health Charities, and Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation for their generous support of the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Project.

Kids In The Middle is a project in which we offer mental health services to children and families referred by the Travis County Domestic Relations Office involved in high conflict divorce, family violence, or custody issues.

ACCESS Family Services, in partnership with Austin ISD, provides brief family therapy to families with Austin Independent School District (AISD) students ages 10-18. This family-based model serves families for approximately 8-12 weekly sessions. Family therapy involves working with both parents and children to try to change negative patterns of behavior, to help with communication difficulties, and to improve interpersonal relationships. This type of therapy requires the participation of at least one caregiver with the student, though additional family members are encouraged to attend. Through the ACCESS grant, these services are provided at no cost to participating families within AISD. ACCESS Family Services are designed to help families facing a wide range of challenges including dropping grades or truancy, fighting with peers or siblings, significant changes in the home or school, and defiance or other challenging behaviors. A portion of the program includes the exemplary model program called Parenting With Love & Limits. Parenting With Love & Limits is targeted to teens ages 10-17 years and addresses risk factors such as dropping out of school/truancy, low academic achievement, school suspensions, victimization, violence, and association with delinquent and/or aggressive peers. The program seeks to build protective factors and integrates parent training, family therapy, and cognitive behavioral treatment. Austin Child Guidance Center is pleased to partner with AISD in its comprehensive ACCESS project to implement this nationally recognized, evidence-based program, created by Dr. Scott Sells of the Savannah Family Institute.

Parenting with Love & Limits referral form - 2009 January
Size: 2.62 MB | Type: pdf
Referral for the Parenting with Love and Limits Program