School and Student Behavioral Health Programs

School and Student Behavioral Health Programs

Children’s Service Center has served students in educational settings since 1968, recognizing the importance of helping youth to receive treatment for mental health challenges to ensure their academic success and social development.

Community & School-Based Behavioral Health (CSBBH)

Scope

CSBBH encompasses therapies provided in participating school districts for their students in school, home, and community settings.

Program Summary

Community & School-Based Behavioral Health provides voluntary mental health services for children and teenagers with severe emotional and/or behavioral problems that interfere with their learning. Services are delivered during the school day, as well as after school and on weekends in home and community settings. The goal is to teach students new ways to better manage feelings and behaviors so that they can learn and develop positive relationships with peers, teachers, and school staff.

Eligibility

CSSBH team services are typically approved for up to six months for a school semester. A child needs to be eligible for Medical Assistance to qualify for CSBBH services and the school must be in a participating district.

School-Based Teams by District

  • Central Columbia
  • Crestwood
  • Elk Lake
  • Minersville Area
  • Mount Carmel Area
  • North Schuylkill
  • Pine Grove Area
  • Pittston Area
  • Pottsville
  • Schuylkill Haven Area
  • Shamokin Area
  • Shikellamy
  • Wayne Highlands
  • Wilkes-Barre Area
  • Wyoming Valley West

Services Provided

  • Mental health assessments
  • Behavioral management planning
  • Individual therapy
  • Group therapy
  • Family therapy
  • Case management
  • School consultation
  • Crisis support
  • Trauma exposure screening
  • Substance abuse screening
  • Family education groups
  • Parenting education groups
  • Referrals

Treatment Team

Individualized treatment plans are developed for each student by an interdisciplinary treatment team that includes, but is not limited to:

  • Mobile Therapist
  • Behavioral Health Technician
  • Licensed psychologist or psychiatrist (provides consultation)

The mobile therapist acts as lead of each student’s team. This licensed professional with a master’s degree in a counseling discipline works with parents or guardians, the school, and other professionals to create a plan specific to the student. Specifically, the mobile therapist:

  • Provides individual, group, and family therapy as needed
  • Coordinates services across school, home, and community settings, while supervising the care provided by Behavioral Health Technicians
  • Initiates a plan for handling a behavioral health crisis
  • Consults with the psychologist, psychiatrist or drug and alcohol specialist to ensure comprehensive assessment and care
    Behavioral Health Technicians are professionals with a bachelor’s degree. They implement the plan of care for each student while working with the student at school, and if necessary, in the home or community.

Hours of Operation

  • Day and evening hours by appointment.

Program Contact

Carolanne Jones-Leco
Vice President of Programs

Partial Hospitalization Program

The Milford E. Barnes School, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Program Summary

The Partial Hospitalization Treatment Program provides a range of therapeutic activities to help students stay with their families and to minimize the need for placement in more restrictive environments such as inpatient or residential settings. The program promotes stabilization of mental health symptoms, encourages appropriate behavior within a supportive educational setting, and provides the opportunity for youth with serious emotional disturbances to function to the best of their ability.

The Milford E. Barnes School is a private, licensed special education school serving students in early childhood (Pre-K) and K12. This specialized program for intensive mental health treatment and school instruction provides students with support to improve functioning and ensure academic progress.

For Pre-K age group, the program addresses behavioral challenges to provide a positive early childhood educational experience and promote school readiness beyond day care and pre-school program settings. To qualify for this program, less restrictive services (such as conventional child day care) must have been attempted. Children must also qualify for Early Intervention Services and meet eligibility for Partial Hospitalization.

For grades K12, the program acts as a collaborative setting to help students meet their mental health and educational goals, while preparing them to return to their home school district following the successful completion of treatment.

The Partial Hospitalization Program combines mental health support and education for students with significant behavioral and emotional challenges, while helping them to continue their academic instruction. The program:

  • Promotes stabilization of mental health symptoms
  • Encourages appropriate behavior within a supportive educational setting
  • Provides the opportunity for youth to function to the best of their ability


The goal is to provide needed therapies and continue academic instruction while allowing the student to remain at home – minimizing the need for a more restrictive environment such as inpatient or residential settings. The average length of stay is six months but can vary depending upon each student’s needs.

Services Provided

Pre-K/Early Childhood Education and K12 Partial Hospitalization

The Partial Hospitalization Program integrates psychiatric, psychosocial, and educational services for children in need of an intensive, structured and therapeutic setting to stabilize mental health or behavioral symptoms while living in their home setting.

Open year round, the program operates 5 days a week. In collaboration with the client and his or her family, services and activities include:

  • Psychiatry
  • Educational instruction
  • Family, individual, and group therapy
  • Participation from coordinating agencies and home school districts


Consistent with our private special education school license, the services offered will be prescribed by and carried out in accordance with each child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP), 504 plan, or regular educational goals. All children entering the program receive:

  • A diagnostic assessment (psychiatric evaluation, educational and biopsychosocial assessments)
  • An Individualized treatment plan developed with family members
  • Discharge planning in collaboration with the school to ensure a successful return to the regular classroom

Location

The Milford E. Barnes School is located on the main campus of Children’s Service Center:

  • 335 South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702

Program Contact

For referrals and additional information, please contact us.

Sydney Szafranovicz, LCSW
Director of Partial Hospitalization

Lindsay Bower, M.Ed.
Director of Education

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