Quality Services for Individuals and Families with Special Needs

Services for Emotional and behaviorally disturbed Children and Adolescents

High Desert Family Services (HDFS) provides services for seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents from troubled families, institutions and other settings under the New Mexico Interagency Behavioral Health Collaborative Purchasing Program administered by Value Options New Mexico..

The goal of our programs are to provide active treatment environments to prepare a child for; return to his or her biological or extended family, transition to the least restrictive appropriate setting; successful relationships within their family; transition to adulthood.

HDFS approaches each child and each family as unique individuals and design our services to meet their specific needs. Our programs are need-driven and flexible focusing on the maximum use of community resources.

Treatment Foster Care (TFC)

The Treatment Foster Care program provides behaviorally or emotionally disturbed youths from troubled families or institutions a warm and stable environment coupled with the therapeutic intervention needed to address severe emotional disorders. Placement in the home of a specially trained foster parent, is carefully matched according to each child's needs. These families provide children in their care with therapeutic intervention, nurturing support and the consistent guidance needed in addition to routine family and community-based activities. Provders work closely with the Treatment Coordinator and Therapists to oversee implementation of an Individualized Treatment Plan with emphasis on discharge planning to assure the youth's appropriate progress and transition to home, permanent placement or independent living.

Eligible clients are those who:

Are at risk for failure or have failed in regular foster homes
Are unable to live with their own families
Or, are going through a transitional period from residential care as part of the process of return to family and community.

Placement options for children include;

Emergency Stabilization
Diversion from impatient care
Step-Down from more intensive settings
Alternative to group care
Transition to independent Living
Permanency Planning

Comprehensive Community Support Services

Comprehensive community support services are provided to facilitate access to necessary care and the quality of such care using a medical and psychosocial service model that advocates for, and builds upon, a child's and family's strengths and needs. Community support workers facilitate the use of a child's natural helping resources in the community, ensure continuity of care, promotes coordination of physical health, behavioral health, and social services. Community support workers problem solve with the children, caregivers, legal guardians, and other significant parties to assist the child in setting goals for themselves.

Individual, Group and Family Outpatient Therapy

The Outpatient Therapy program provides children and their families individualized sessions based upon a carefully designed treatment plan. Licensed Practitioners conduct all Outpatient Therapy at the child's or family's location or at a High Desert Family Service's office location

Behavioral Respite

The Behavioral Respite service is offered to foster families and biological families. Services are offered on an 'as needed' or emergency basis to allow a primary caregiver 'time-off.' This may be done on a daily or hourly basis. All Behavioral Respite providers are specially trained and have 24 hour access to the agency's emergency on-call should a need arise during an engagement.

All respite providers are matched appropriately for each child/adolescent.