Children's Resource Team
The Children's Resource Team (CRT) includes mental health specialists and skills trainers who provide individual, group, and family treatment, skills training for children and adolescents, and parent training. Referrals for this program are made for appropriate psychological and child psychiatric services. CRT also provides regularly scheduled outreach services to all Josephine County public elementary and secondary schools, and alternative education centers. The CRT model of outreach school mental health services has been recognized by the state for its excellence on numerous occasions over the past 25 years.
The CRT therapists provide services for children from every school in the County, including those in the outlying areas such as the Illinois Valley. CRT works closely with families, schools, corrections, and youth serving community agencies including Family Friends, who provides outpatient therapy for kids who have been sexually abused. The CRT also works with other youth agencies including the Coalition for Kids and the Southern Oregon Adolescent Study and Treatment Center (SOASTC). Child and adolescent acute care non-hospital treatment is provided by SOASTC Assessment and Evaluation facility located in Grants Pass. CRT also offers limited crisis intervention services in local schools, and provides debriefings and interventions at times of tragedies in the schools (e.g. suicides, accidental deaths of students or staff).
In the last year the CRT and its programs served 631 individuals. 10-15 new referrals to the program are received per week. Counseling and therapy is provided by Master's level clinicians with special interest and training in child, adolescent and family treatment. Service is provided in the most appropriate setting for the individuals involved and includes:
- Individual, family, and group counseling.
- School-based counseling provided directly by Mental Health employees.
- Social and behavioral skills training for both children and parents.
- Classes on a variety of topics.
- Psychiatric and psychological evaluations provided by both employees of the Mental Health Program and contract agreements with community professionals.
Functional Family Therapy is a specialized treatment program within the CRT. The focus of this form of therapy is to be able to provide pre-adjudication treatment for youth to keep them out of the criminal justice system. This counseling service is for the whole family, and is an important source of diagnostic work.