Who is Eligible for IFI Services?
Services are provided to children and adolescents ages 5-21.

Children who enter our program have:

  • Severe behavioral, emotional, and/or substance abuse problems that need to be addressed IMMEDIATLEY.
  • They are at imminent risk to being removed from their current home, school.
  • The child may be at risk of harming themselves or someone else if the behavior continues.
  • The child has tried lower levels of care such as group therapy or individual therapy with little or no improvement.

Intensive Family Intervention (IFI)

We have found there a great need to stabilize and preserve the family unit. Our goal is to provide stabilization and preservation while providing these services, we maintain a child in their natural environment. Intensive Family Intervention (IFI) can be utilized for this purpose. This service is authorized by Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) and covered by Georgia Medicaid. Intensive Family Intervention (IFI) is designed to be an intensive service provided to children and adolescents that have severe emotional disturbances or substance abuse issues. These individuals are at high risk for out of home placement (youth detention center, psychiatric hospital, therapeutic foster care, residential treatment facility, etc.). This service is primarily provided to children and their families in their home. Additional services are also provided to approve children in schools, community agencies, and courts as needed. The treatment team works with families to build on their strengths and empower them by equipping them with skills needed to meet the needs of the family and avoid out of home placement. IFI services focus on the individual referred for services and their family as a unit. A Solution-Focused approach using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy methods is the basis for treatment. Interventions are determined on an individual basis; the clinical team conducts a comprehensive assessment and strives to meet the client and their family where they are.

Interventions include but are not limited to:

  • Crisis Intervention
  • Intensive Family Therapy
  • Parent Training
  • Behavior Modification
  • Substance Abuse Counseling
  • Rehabilitative supports to prevent the need for a out of home placement and/or more restrictive services

Additionally, IFI services aim to assist clients and their families by stabilizing crisis, connecting clients with external community resources, ensuring the appropriateness of clinical services, enhancing Client's ability to self care and parent/ legal guardian's capacity to care for children in-home in an effort to prevent out of home placement.

We don't just intervene with the child we also intervene with the entire family, the child's school, DFCS, DJJ, community agencies, and other environmental extension in which the child may be involved.

Services are provided by a TEAM of professionals to include a Team Leader (a Therapist licensed by the State as an LPC, LCSW, LMFT, or PhD), a Mental Health Professional (A Master's degree level professional), and a Paraprofessional (A Bachelor's level professional).

Interventions include:

  • Individual Therapy
  • Family Therapy
  • Parent Training
  • Consumer Skills Training
  • Behavioral Modification
  • Crisis Intervention

The Team provides services to the child and family several days per week for up to 2 hours per visit. For consumers in crisis, the Team is available to the child and family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Services are approved for a period of 90 days (12 weeks).

The child is then discharged to community agencies deemed most appropriate for continuation of care and maintenance of improvements made.