Tri-County Child & Adolescent Services

Emotional and mental health support services for kids in Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties.

Any youth between the ages of 3-20 years old in Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford counties with emotional and behavioral challenges and is Medicaid eligible can receive in-home therapy. Our therapists work closely with the youth to reduce emotional stress and improve interpersonal relationships at home, school, and in the community. Goals are addressed and managed through assessment and diagnosis, individual, group, and family therapy, case management, and psychiatric services as appropriate.

Referrals for Tri-County Child and Adolescent Services can be made by the parent or guardian of a youth, or therapists, physicians and school personnel connected to the youth. To find out more to make a referral, please email [email protected] or call 309-687-7923.

School-Based Therapy

Providing Tri-County students with therapy to help address social, emotional, and mental health needs.

Children’s Home collaborates with Peoria Public Schools and Central District 51 and provides full-time counselors in various schools to offer students therapy services.

Individuals are referred to the program by staff members, teachers, parents/caregivers, or the school counselor. Once the client is identified and deemed appropriate for services, attempts are made to engage their parent or guardian for in-home family counseling services, case management, and community referrals. To find out more or to make a referral, please contact Kristi Zeller at [email protected] or call 309-687-7942.

Intensive Placement Services (IPS)

Providing respite and support to kids in the foster care system.

IPS provides short-term placement, stabilization, and services to minors who are at-risk of being removed from a foster home, including traditional foster care, relative foster care, or specialized foster care in Peoria County. Services are based on the ARC model and can include therapy, family support, crisis intervention, tutoring, recreation, school advocacy, and psychosocial education.

Our IPS staff help mediate family tension and provide techniques for stabilization. For more information, please contact Faye Kesselmayer, LCSW at [email protected] or call 309-687-7413.

Family Support Programs (FSP)

Children’s Home serves as the coordinator for services for youth needing intensive emotional support.

FSP is a state-funded program that provides access to intensive mental health services and support to youth with a severe emotional disturbance. The goal of the FSP is to support eligible youth and their families by strengthening family stability, improving clinical outcomes, and promoting community-based services.

Every youth enrolled in FSP is assigned to a coordinator who provides case management, access to mental health services, additional community support, and residential treatment when it is determined to be medically necessary.

For more information or to apply to FSP, please visit the HFS website or contact Rachel Nieslawski at [email protected] or call 309-687-7964.

Mobile Crisis Response (MCR)

24/7 crisis intervention for youth in psychiatric distress.

Mobile Crisis Response (MCR) is a 24/7 community-based program that provides an emergency assessment to children experiencing a psychiatric crisis. Youth who have no insurance coverage or who have Medicaid are assessed during a crisis to determine if community services can be utilized to avoid hospitalization.

Children’s Home provides this life-saving service to Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties. If psychiatric hospitalization is deemed necessary, MCR facilitates a connection to the appropriate in-patient unit. All children screened and served in the program are referred through the CARES line at 1-800-345-9049 and routed to a 24-hour on-call system.

For more information about psychiatric screenings and to inquire if a screening is necessary, please call 309-687-8600, leave a message, and a staff member will call you back as soon as possible. For more information about MCR, please contact Jacob Morgan at [email protected] or call 309-687-7959.

Regardless of the outcome of the screening, every youth is provided a referral to the Children’s Home Tri-County Child & Adolescent Services.

Caregiver Connections

Professional development for early childhood caregivers.

Caregiver Connections provides consultation and education for early childhood educators and caregivers. Children’s Home staff provide professional development, trainings, referrals, and mental health support to help equip centers with knowledge about how to handle children with questionable or concerning behaviors.

In the event that additional support is needed for the child, families are assisted with community connections to appropriate behavioral health providers. For more information or to make a referral, please contact Chelsea Tapp at [email protected] or call 309-687-6639.

Pathways to Success

A family focused, strengths-based care coordination and wrap-around service for youth with complex behavioral health needs.

Children’s Home is the Care Coordination and Support Organization (CCSO) for Pathways to Success in Central Illinois, serving as a centralized leader with a dedicated and trained team of coordinators that offer support to clients and families. Pathways is a program for Medicaid-enrolled youth under the age of 21 in Illinois who have complex behavioral health needs and could benefit from additional support. Care coordinators collaborate closely with community services to help build supports in the home, school, and community. The goal of the Pathways program is to improve family functioning, reduce caregiver stress, provide stability for at-risk youth in the home, improve school attendance, and reduce hospitalization.

For more information, please contact Dianna Taylor Meneses, LCPC at [email protected] or call 309-285-0131.