Services for Children
with Mental Illness

Therapeutic Family Care

AWARE’s Therapeutic Family Care is a family centered program designed to keep kids who have been identified as “high-risk” with their families. Our staff will provide up to 20 hours per week of direct in-home services. During those 20 hours, and depending on the needs of your family, the focus will be on parenting skills, family dynamics, and improved functioning in other targeted areas such as coping skills, social skills, and other areas related to self-care and independent living.

Parents will have the opportunity to participate in family support groups and activity nights to encourage development of natural support systems. Children may participate in social skills and recreation groups where they have opportunities to practice skills learned in alternative settings. To provide parents with the opportunity to pay attention to their own personal needs, respite services can be included in this program. In addition, psychiatric consultation services and family/individual therapy are included in this service, if desired.

Youth Case Management

AWARE Youth Case Management cuts through red tape and the maze of bureaucracy, empowering parents and guardians to effectively make decisions for and with their children. We understand that parents of children affected by serious emotional disturbances can sometimes lose confidence in their ability to make decisions that are best for him/her. We work to return this confidence by offering services based on parent input, and we provide support as the services are accessed.

The Youth Case Manager refers the family to other programs and agencies that may serve the child or other members of the family. The primary functions of Youth Case Management include walking families through various application processes, helping coordinate services, and advocating for the needs of children and their families. Youth Case Management program puts the community to work for a child and his or her family. It offers families and youth the help they need to coordinate community resources and services that will enhance the child’s ability to remain with his or her family. Some of the most common services facilitated by an AWARE Youth Case Manager are medication management, therapy, respite, and Individualized Education Plans.

Comprehensive School and Community-based Treatment Services

AWARE’s Comprehensive School and Community-based Treatment Services make additional supports available for young people who are struggling with behavioral and emotional issues in school. Staff work closely with teachers and other school personnel to provide assessment, program planning, skill-building activities with the youth, one-to-one therapeutic support, and therapy based on the youth’s individualized action plan. In addition, consultation, training and support are offered to school personnel. Our goal is to work with clients, their families, and their educators to prepare a plan that helps children live in the least-restrictive setting possible, while at the same time providing them with the supports they needand the education they are entitled to.

Galen Therapeutic Program

AWARE Inc. believes that the ideal situation for providing mental health services for young people is to treat them in or close to their home communities. However, we realize that it’s not always possible to do so. Therefore, AWARE offers an alternative campus treatment program that combines education with an intensive residential and behavioral environment in Galen, Montana. The program’s public school provides a full range of therapeutic support, and, when not in school, full use of the area’s recreational bounty is made by fishing, hiking, swimming, and participating in sports activities.

Residential Programs for Youth

AWARE’s Intensive Therapeutic Residential Services offer daily care and residential services for youth in a comfortable, home-like environment. Four boys and girls are served in each home. Close supervision, needed structure, and individualized supports are provided by trained care-giving staff who implement each youth’s strength-based treatment plan daily. In addition, youth participate in skill-building activities, individual sessions and therapeutic groups, and community-based activities. Family involvement is strongly encouraged.

Community Based Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Support Services

AWARE’s Community Based Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Support Services work with children in all aspects of their daily and family life. Our qualified and caring staff helps to support youth as they meet challenges that may be preventing them from attaining their goals. AWARE helps them meet basic needs related to living in the community including housing, transportation, education, employment, social skill building, and any other areas that need attention as identified in a strength-based plan. Any effort that helps youth meet challenges in these areas can be identified in the plan, and is supported by Community Based Rehabilitation and Support Services. Typically, these services are accessed through case management and/or in coordination with psychiatric care.

Outpatient Clinical Services

AWARE promotes a "wraparound" philosophy so that services are strength-based, family focused, individualized, and comprehensive. Outpatient therapy is provided to youth, adults, and their families. Qualified professionals develop treatment plans suited to the individual or family, depending on their needs. Services are provided in a center (such as a clinic), at an AWARE office, or at an appropriate and confidential community site of the consumer’s choice.

At AWARE, the roles of Outpatient Clinical Services and Psychiatry are embedded within a broader therapeutic approach of unconditional care and individualized treatment, meaning that we will ensure that our clients are only receiving the treatments they need.

AWARE Psychiatric Services

As with our Outpatient Clinical Services, AWARE Psychiatric Services are embedded within a broader therapeutic approach of principles that emphasize strengths, family, community, and the individual. AWARE’s team of highly trained and experienced psychiatrists across Montana is available for assessments, ongoing treatment, medication management and support. AWARE is committed to access, and strives to provide psychiatry to even the most rural of Montana residents through telepsychiatry and video conferencing. To that end we have established an unparalleled network of mental health professionals.