KIND Center

KIND Center (Kids In New Directions) provides outpatient specialty mental health services to Kings County youth ages 0-17 years, and up to age 21 with County prior authorization. Services include individual, collateral and group therapy, case management, and crisis intervention. Services are provided in clinic, community and school-based settings for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and uninsured youth who present with moderate to severe needs. Referrals are accepted from County partners, child welfare, probation departments, school districts, community providers, or through a direct request for services from the youth and/or caregiver. Services are targeted at children, youth, and their families who have had exposure to trauma, including child maltreatment, and children who are at risk and/or have developed significant emotional and behavioral challenges. Services are evidence-based and trauma-focused and include modalities such as Child Parent Psychotherapy and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

The KIND Center MHSSA program is an extension of the KIND Center and is available on select Kings County school campuses. The goal of the MHSSA program is to recognize signs and symptoms of mental illness to support student wellness through early identification, linkage to services and treatment. The program will implement two voluntary universal screening tools (Pediatric Symptom Checklist 35 and Student Risk Screening Scale) to support identification of students who may be struggling with mental health. The MHSSA program will also provide trainings on behavioral wellness topics that may include mindfulness, suicide prevention, trauma informed care, social emotional learning and self-care. Referrals are accepted from school staff or direct request from student/caregiver, although any student as well as staff member may benefit from trainings on behavioral wellness topics.