CMHRC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The fees charged for our programs and services are kept at below market rates because we believe that good quality mental healthcare support should be available to as many people as possible.
Charitable giving supplements the cost of running our programs and services and provides funding for our free resources, supports, and educational efforts.
All of the programs and services you see on our website are delivered virtually, via telephone or Zoom, by staff and volunteers located across the United States.
Our virtual programs and services are available to everyone in all 50 states. Individual families and providers can access them as individual services or as part of a bundle of services and program.
As a nonprofit, it is important to us to make sure that our programs and services are accessible to as many people as possible. The services that have a fee are priced far below typical market rates for this very reason. For example, our Wayfinder Service has an hourly fee, which is billed in 15 minute increments so you don’t pay for time you don’t use.
We do offer specific types of discounts and we can help families set up payment plans for those who need to spread payments out rather than making a single lump sum payment.
An essential tool for clinicians is something called a ‘differential diagnosis’ . This involves examining symptoms, and looking at all the different diagnoses that include them, while they’re engaged in the diagnostic process. Through extensive history taking, assessments, clinical interviews with the patient, clinical interviews with family, and review of school and medical records, our clinicians start to weed through all the possibilities and use the clinical data from the case review to offer possible diagnoses.
Finding an accurate diagnosis is a long and involved process that can take weeks or even months. Once a diagnosis comes into focus, it isn’t declared to be “the diagnosis”. Instead it’s considered to be the most likely diagnosis and a course of treatment is tried to see how the symptoms respond. Depending on how treatment goes, you may then rule-out or rule-in a diagnosis.
Diagnosing isn’t a quick process. Our team can help you understand the disorder your provider has identified, help you figure out if the disorder given is accurate, and learn what the expected treatment process is and how to manage it at home.
It’s a violation of the federal law known as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act) for a public school to discipline a student for behaviors that are caused by, or are symptoms of, a federally recognized disability. There are 13 categories of disability in the IDEA. One of them is called “Emotional Disturbance”. This category includes mental health and psychiatric conditions, some of which may also be covered under the category “Other Health Impairment”.
However, in order to qualify for an IEP and to have the federal protections that go along with the “Emotional Disturbance” or “Other Health Impairment” categories, the student must have received that diagnosis from a qualified mental health professional. Schools can provide assessment services for the family with their own selected provider at no cost to the family, or families can choose to pay for their own assessments from an independent provider that can then be submitted to the school for review.
CMHRC offers support for caregivers, teachers, and schools through our Wayfinder Services by providing one-on-one consultations for psychoeducation on the impact that mood disorders have in the school setting and on learning. As part of this service, our team provides information to the school on the mental health disorder that the student has, and appropriate accommodations and interventions to address mental health needs.
