Mental Health Referral and Tracking

Children and families requiring Mental Health/Social Emotional services will be referred for those services by Head Start staff when needed.

1. Teachers of Family Service Coordinator (FSC) will talk with parents about their child’s mental health. If concerns are identified, a Mental Health Referral can be made.
   1. Staff and families will fill out a Permission for Additional Services form, indicating a “child or family counseling referral”.
   2. Staff will discuss the the family’s needs and preferences with parents/guardians to assist in determining which agency would best suit their needs.
      1. Staff will let parents/guardians know that our contracted providers prioritize families from HSOLC that have OHP and provide some additional benefits; however, the family will choose the provider they feel will best meet their needs.
      2. If the referral is going to a contracted provider, staff will also have parents sign a Permission to Exchange Information form for the agency.
         1. If the referral is going to Options, staff will work with the parent to complete an Options packet.
         2. If the referral is going to a non-contracted agency, staff will offer parents the opportunity to sign a Permission for Additional Services form for the agency of their choice.
      3. The child will be staffed by teacher, FSC and the ECE coordinator or EHS Specialist or CCC specialist. The Regional Manager will participate if possible.
2. The ECE Coordinator/EHS Specialist/CCC Specialist will document the referral in the referral table in the screening section of WebCAF, and send an e-mail to the Regional Manager stating that the referral has been made.
   1. If the family chooses to receive services from an agency that HSOLC contracts with,the ECE Coordinator/EHS Specialist/CCC Specialist will then give the referral to the agency the child/family is being referred to.
      1. Information given to the agency will include the permission for additional services form, agency intake form if applicable, and a copy of permission to exchange information if needed.
      2. If the family chooses a non-contracted agency, the family will contact the agency of their choice directly.
3. The ECE Coordinator/EHS Specialist/CCC Specialist will check the referral table/report weekly to follow up with families on mental health referrals.
   1. If the referral is going to Options or South Lane Mental Health, the agency will assign a therapist and contact the family. The family must do an in-person intake appointment before counseling can begin.
4. If the child has Oregon Health Plan (OHP), the child is covered for mental health services through OHP.
   1. If the child does not qualify for OHP, HSOLC may be able to assist in paying for a limited amount of sessions.
      1. Head Start must be the payee of last resort, other resources must have been exhausted, and all conditions of HSOLC’s performance standards must be met in order for this to be possible.
      2. If staff believes they have a family in this situation, staff will gather all relevant information (front and back on insurance card if any, reason requesting services, reasons family does not qualify for OHP) and give that to the ECE Coordinator or EHS Specialist.
         1. The ECE Coordinator or EHS Specialist will pass the information on to the CD/D Consultant who will consult the performance standards, available funds, and the Head Start Director if appropriate.
5. If the Mental Health Team facilitated the referral, the “facilitated” check box will be checked (Screening and Referral domain – Referral – Child and/or Family Counseling – facilitated box).
6. Staff will document the ongoing conversation with the family related to following upon their intake appointment.The note should be linked to the referral and not entered in the general notes section. S/he will enter the “completed” date in the referral table after the intake has occurred.
7. If the child does not receive the referred counseling services, staff will document why and choose from one of the provided reasons why the child/family is not receiving service (Screening and Referral Domain: Referral – child and/or family counseling – reason). This should not be done until we are sure that services will not be received (i.e. the end of the year).
8. The ECE Coordinator or EHS Specialist will run monthly reports to help monitor which referrals still need follow up.

1. Resources and referrals will be given by the FSC/educational staff/Mental Health team and tracked in the WebCAF “I & R Table”.
2. If Head Start is not the referring agency and the family either comes in with a child/family therapist or starts therapy while in HS, tracking guidelines are as follows:
   1. During the program year: Families will be asked if their child has a therapist/counselor that they would like HS/EHS staff to know about. If the parent/guardian chooses to inform HS/EHS that their child is seeing a therapist, that information will be entered by enrollment staff in the enrollment domain (fields are located in the enrollment edit under the heading of special needs information). Parents/guardians will then be offered the opportunity to sign a Permission to Exchange Information form for that therapist. It will be made clear that it is the parents choice as to whether or not they wish to sign the permission form.
   2. During the program year: DST may discover through family contact that the child/family is involved in counseling. Information will be documented in the WebCAF Family Service domain (edit side) under the heading “Special Needs Information.” This information will be displayed on the view side of the Family Service domain once entered.

Policy Council approved on September 12, 2006, June 13, 2007, September 11, 2007,June 2009. August 2012
Updated July 2010. August 2012. July 2013
Meets Performance Standard: 1304. 24 (2) and (3)

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