Three thousand – that’s how many children Astor Counseling Services would like to screen in Dutchess County this year, but Dr. Gus Tsoubris says that he and his staff are far from their target.
“If we could screen 5,000 kids, we’d screen 5,00 kids. I’d screen every kid in Dutchess County if I could,” said Tsoubris, Astor’s assistant executive director.
The screening process is simple, he says. It’s voluntary, it’s free, it takes 15 minutes to complete, and it evaluates a child’s emotional well-being. The program – Child and Family Clinic Plus – was developed by the State Office of Mental Health, and is administered by mental health providers throughout New York.
Astor is one of the leading providers of mental health services in Dutchess County, and has clinics in Poughkeepsie, Beacon and Red Hook, as well as satellite clinics in Wappingers Falls, Millbrook and Wassaic.
The Astor Home for Children began as the Astor Home for Boys in 1953 as a response to an initiative by the State Department of Mental Hygiene, which aimed to create children’s residential treatment programs that would reduce the psychiatric hospitalization of children.
The agency’s first home was established in Rhinebeck, and it now houses Astor’s administrative offices and its residential treatment center. Today the community-based nonprofit provides children’s mental health services, child welfare services and early childhood development programs throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley region and the Bronx.
Astor began screening for the Clinic Plus program last April, and Tsoubris has yet to meet his yearly goals.
“The State Office of Mental Health has realized that our clinics are the frontline in getting these children situated, healthy and moving into the right direction, but we’re trying to change our culture. We do screenings at the dentist, physicals every year at the doctor’s office – kids should be screened for social and mental health,” said Tsoubris.
Through the Clinic Plus program mental health professionals work closely with families and children to identify the emotional needs of children through the screening procedure, which is available to children ages 2 to 17. The process begins with a questionnaire that ranges from two to six pages in length, depending on the age of the child being screened, and is constructed in a behavioral checklist format. The questionnaires are available in English and Spanish, and may be filled out by a parent or teacher – or if the child is 11 years old or older, he or she may fill out a self-completed questionnaire.
The questionnaire may be completed over the phone, done by mail, by an appointment at one of Astor’s counseling centers or by having a screener come to a client’s house. After it’s filled out, the document is retuned to the screener for scoring. Once the questionnaire is scored, the screener will contact the family, and based on the results, the child may be recommended for a more detailed assessment at one of Astor’s clinic locations.
Therapy sessions can consist of individual or family counseling, and because Astor focuses on the roll that families play in the treatment process, clients may be able to have up to nine in-home counseling sessions per year.
According to the New York State Office of Mental Health Web site, the Clinic Plus program is designed to keep New York’s children on track at home, in school and in the community, and it ensures that New York families have the tools they need to help their children become strong and resilient adults.
As for Astor, Tsoubris says they’ll keep spreading the word.
“We will send out more consents this year than last. We’ve made some progress – but we’ve still got a long way to go,” he said.
For more information on this and other services provided by Astor, visit www.astorservices.org