Parenting a child with behavioral or mental health concerns can be difficult. Trouble accessing a child psychiatrist or other mental health services can be even more challenging. Resource Link through the OSF HealthCare Children’s Hospital of Illinois works to connect children and families with the mental and behavioral health services they need. Ryan Williams, Care Coordinator for the Western Region, explains the process of connecting a child with services:
“I usually get referrals from a child’s primary care physician, but I also work closely with the schools in all of my regions as well, or even just random emails or phone calls from parents. Once I get linked up with the family, I schedule an intake appointment with them where I can discuss the child’s needs and that parents concerns. Then we talk about different resources; whether that be counseling, psychiatry, any kind of developmental assessments, substance-abuse needs, anything that a family would need for their child. My job is to then, at that point, talk to them about their different options and really help link them to those services. After that we don’t just drop them and say good luck. Our job is really then to provide that added support afterward. We make phone calls out to those families to make sure that they’ve been able to link with those services and more importantly, just starting to make some kind of positive progress with their kids.”
Resource Link’s care coordinator services are available at no cost to a family, which serves children and adolescents up to 18 years old.
