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Personal Enrichment through Mental Health Services, Inc. (PEMHS)
Pinellas, Florida
The Alternatives for Children in Crisis "A Team" collaborative child pilot program was developed by
three mental health providers in Pinellas County: Personal Enrichment through Mental Health Services, Inc.
(PEMHS), Directions for Mental Health, Inc. (DMH), and Suncoast Center for Community Mental Health,
Inc. (SCCMH). The pilot program is designed to intervene in situations where elementary school-aged
children (ages 5-11, or Kindergarten through Fifth grade) at targeted schools are experiencing a behavioral
crisis that may be eligible for intervention through the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center (PJAC), the
Juvenile Detention Center (JDC), or the children's mental health crisis unit. The program will provide a
combination of the following components for elementary school-aged children and their families:
Training and Outreach: providing specific training components directed to school officials, childcare
center administrators, after school programs, and law enforcement;
On-site Intervention and Crisis Support: intervention to prevent law enforcement involvement with
criminal charges and intervention to prevent Baker Act commitment;
Family-based Interventions: providing counseling and support to families immediately following
intervention for a period of up to two months; and;
Aftercare: referral to longer-term services following the two-month period of Family-based interventions
when necessary.
The program is offered as a community resource with the capacity to provide onsite crisis intervention by
mental health professionals, and a training program tailored for persons who have the authority to decide
when a child will be placed in policy custody. The program will provide families with brief therapeutic
interventions to identify behavioral issues and lead the family to successful outcomes.
The pilot program is a response and an alternative for schools and law enforcement in responding to
challenging behaviors of children. During the piloting period the program will focus on specifically selected
elementary schools and after-school programs. The program will also direct efforts at children (and their
families) referred for the first time to PJAC for early intervention services to prevent repeat referral to PJAC.
Schools and programs were initially to be selected based upon (1) the collaborating agencies' familiarity with
the school officials and populations; (2) school and after school programs interested in participating in this
project; and (3) consideration of the data from the Juvenile Assessment Center identifying the elementary
schools with highest referral rates. However, the agency partners involved in school social workers to help
determine the schools with priority needs. Five schools each in south and mid county and 6 schools in the
north region of Pinellas County - for a total of 16 schools - were proposed for selection. However, 17 schools
were involved in the initial planning phase.
Onsite Intervention and Crisis Support:
The program is portable because the three teams of professionals are available for outreach and training,
onsite intervention and crisis support, and family-based interventions. Service locations include identified
schools, home visits, after-school programs, and the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center. Services are
available every weekday, with extended operating hours to accommodate after-school programs and working
parents. For those youth who are transported to PJAC because they do not fall within the targeted schools,
the program will intervene and provide onsite service upon request. The pilot program should impact the
level of repeat offenses by children assessed at the PJAC for misdemeanor charges.
Training:
Training is viewed as an essential component to prevention and diversion. Alternatives to Children in Crisis proposes to provide a specific training component directed to school officials, childcare center administrators, after school programs and law enforcement in the targeted area of the pilot program. The training will include:
an understanding of the options that are available to administrators when children experience crises;
training in specific skills used in the mental health field when dealing with children who are physically or verbally aggressive or abusive;
an introduction to the availability of the intervention team; and
the training team will teach and support adults who have direct contact with young children in the targeted program areas.
The team is responsible for developing training curriculum and for informing the community about the pilot program.
Family-Based Intervention:
Counseling will follow immediately after an intervention. Whenever a youth is referred to the pilot program,
the child and family become part of the responding team's caseload. Children whose behaviors have
necessitated intervention or law enforcement involvement are in a crisis or pre-crisis stage. The pilot
program is responsible for identifying the source of the crisis behaviors and intervening to the extent possible
in the family system. Any time the program is contacted for intervention, family follow-up will take place by
the team that responded to the incident. Follow up with the family will continue for six weeks. If the family
needs services beyond the six week period they will be linked to community resources. If a child is referred,
the team will follow through with the referring entity, as much as possible, to assure the ongoing stability
with the child and family in their relationship with the school or childcare program.
Intake Process:
The Alternatives for Children in Crisis pilot program is designed to provide the community, and the adults
who provide service to the community's children, with an alternative intervention to criminal sanction.
School personnel, before and after school programs, and childcare centers may access the services of the pilot
program with a telephone call. A typical participant process is:
Schools:
Telephone call is received by the A-Team members.
Telephone assessment is made to determine if verbal intervention will alleviate the crisis or pre-crisis.
An intervention team is dispatched to the location.
The team will intervene onsite, as necessary.
The team contacts the family for assessment and intervention.
An intervention action plan is developed; visits are scheduled.
Counseling continues for up to 6 weeks. Contacts include referring site of initial behavior to determine whether child can remain in the school/program.
After family and community-based intervention sessions, decision is made to close the file or link to other community resources.
Program provides outreach and training to targeted locations.
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