Families Forward of the Community Mental Health Authority of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties (CMHA-CEI) has been providing services to children and their families for over 30 years. We offer a wide array of treatment options designed to meet the needs of families with children who struggle with emotional disturbance and behavioral concerns.
Our services include:
Other therapeutic services may include children’s psychiatric and medication services, overnight respite, parenting skills groups, and supports designed to promote children’s participation in community activities. We have therapists trained in a variety of promising therapeutic practices and evidence-based practices including PMTO, Trauma Focused treatment, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Love and Logic, Aggression Interruption Training and the Seven Challenges approach to addressing substance use.
Underlying all of the services offered through CMHA-CEI Families Forward is our dual commitment to a strength-based treatment approach and to developing a plan for treatment that is centered on each family’s goals and identified needs. We strongly believe that, despite how overwhelming things can be at times, every family has strengths to build on to improve their quality of life and reach their goals. Helping families find those strengths and plan for the specific changes they desire is the cornerstone of our treatment philosophy and approach.
CMHA-CEI children’s programs serve children 0 through 17 who have a severe emotional disturbance. These are typically children struggling in a variety of areas including home, school and the community. We assist children with mood and behavior disorders and children who are thought to pose a danger to themselves or others. We use an assessment tool in combination with a face to face interview to determine whether children qualify for our services and what level of treatment we are able to offer. We primarily serve persons with Medicaid but are able to take families with private insurance into some of our programs on an ability to pay basis. Feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.
Children’s Outpatient Services offers mental health therapy for children ages 3 to 17 and their families at our offices in Lansing, St. Johns and Charlotte. Children and adolescents seen in outpatient services typically have a moderate to mild emotional or behavioral problem.
Early Intervention Services (EIS) provides in-home mental health services and supports for families with infants, toddlers or preschoolers experiencing significant distress. Early Intervention Services has two home-based programs serving families in Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties.
Family Guidance Service (FGS) provides in-home therapy to families who have school-aged children with serious mental, behavioral, or emotional challenges. Typically, the children have difficulty functioning in their everyday life and are at risk for needing psychiatric hospitalization or other mental health placements. Our goal at FGS is to help parents safely maintain their children in their homes and communities, providing children the best opportunities to achieve healthy and productive lives.
Youth Engagement Service (YES) shifts focus from responding to crisis to preventing crisis by helping children build skills and apply them in a variety of settings.