In order to provide community-based treatment as an alternative to hospitalization, the department shall provide or cause to be provided a range of mental health programs for children in each mental health center recognized by the State. Based on available resources and to the extent funds are made available to the department by the General Assembly, the programs must include, but are not limited to:

(1) twenty-four hour emergency assessment;

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-24-230

  • Child: means a person under the age of eighteen years. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Crisis stabilization: means a short term placement to enable a child who has lost control to regain control in order to be returned to his previous placement or to an appropriate treatment facility or program. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Department: means the State Department of Mental Health. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Diagnostic evaluation: means the systematic appraisal of a child's functional level in various domains such as educational, social, and psychological to determine the nature and extent of treatment or services which may be required to meet the needs of the child. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • In-home intervention: means comprehensive, individualized in-home family services which are designed to intervene at times when there is a possibility that the child will have to be removed from the home to a more restrictive environment or to prepare a family for a child's transition back into the home. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Outpatient counseling: means a regularly scheduled goal-oriented intervention by a competent professional responsive to the needs of the child, for the purposes of assisting the child in solving problems related to educational, vocational, emotional, familial, and social issues through cognitive and affective modes. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Psychiatric assessment and evaluation: means a systematic appraisal, in accordance with generally accepted medical practices, for the following purposes: specialized psychiatric review of physiological phenomena, psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, psychiatric therapeutic evaluative services, and assessment of the appropriateness of initiating or continuing the use of psychotropic medications in treatment of a child. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10
  • Twenty-four hour emergency assessment: means diagnostic evaluation capabilities when necessary to determine a child's clinical status and needs. See South Carolina Code 44-24-10

(2) crisis stabilization;

(3) in-home intervention;

(4) therapeutic foster care;

(5) outpatient counseling, diagnostic evaluation, including psychological testing when required, and psychiatric assessment and evaluation;

(6) consultation with other agencies serving the child.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 24 Contents