Fast answers to
frequently asked questions about Evaluations
I can't
believe you can do these evaluations so quickly. And at no cost.
How is that possible?
Different evaluations have
different purposes. We do not offer medical evaluations. We are
behavioral scientists, not physicians, and our evaluations are targeted to
providing a comprehensive review of your child's strengths, weaknesses and
needs from a biological-psychological-social perspective that will establish
your child's eligibility for Medical Assistance benefits if he or she has a
mental illness that is recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Public
Welfare. Obviously, we don't make a profit on our evaluations to
determine a child's eligibility for Medical Assistance benefits; we do them
because they need to be done quickly so that necessary treatment
services can get started. You should obtain other
evaluations to serve other needs, and we will help you determine what those
other needs might be when we meet with you.
Like all organizations
that provide evaluation services (hospitals, etc), more than one
professional is involved in the evaluation process, including people with Masters
degrees in psychology who work under the close supervision of licensed
psychologists to conduct interviews, collect behavioral information and
create draft evaluation reports that a licensed psychologist with decades of
experience helping children relies upon in meeting with you and your child
in order to rapidly form responsible professional conclusions about your
child's strengths, weaknesses and needs. This licensed psychologist
completes the evaluation, generates the final diagnoses and recommendations,
and is fully responsible for the content of the evaluation report, but a
large part of the evaluation is performed by unlicensed supervisees.
By dividing up the responsibility for the evaluation in this way, it is
possible to perform an excellent, comprehensive evaluation quickly and
cost-efficiently that achieves its intended primary purpose: determining
whether or not your child is eligible for Medical Assistance benefits due to
a mental illness.
If my child must have Medical Assistance (MA) to get
these services,
is my child eligible for Medical Assistance?
Yes,
if he/she lives in Pennsylvania, is under 21 years of age, and has a
disability, your child is almost certainly eligible for Medical
Assistance benefits. It costs you nothing to ask. Please
call anytime: 610-383-1285 for more information. If you would
like written information about the evaluation process or the Institute for
Behavior Change, including our Organizational Chart, click
here.
How long does it take to get an evaluation from you to
determine my child’s eligibility for MA benefits?
Provided that your child
is a Pennsylvania resident under 21 years of age with a disability and
without Medical Assistance benefits, if you can visit our office with your
child (outside Coatesville in Chester county) the evaluation can be
completed in a few hours, and the written report of the evaluation can be
delivered to you in less than 30 days.
What does your evaluation involve?
About one hour of your
responding to questions about your child, completing a brief behavior rating
scale about your child’s typical behavior, and having the child meet briefly
face-to-face with a licensed psychologist. The psychologist’s finished
report can usually be delivered to you in less than 30 days. It will be about
12-15 pages long and will cover everything that any insurance company,
funding agency or treatment service provider in Pennsylvania could possibly
want.
Who performs this evaluation?
A trained mental health
professional will ask the questions, write down your answers and help you
complete the behavioral rating scale. A licensed professional psychologist
and Certified School Psychologist will meet with your child face-to-face and
complete the evaluation.
Besides
establishing a child's eligibility for MA benefits due to a mental
disability, does your evaluation have any other uses?
Yes. Our
evaluation reports have served four additional purposes
simultaneously:
1.
Establish
eligibility for Early Intervention services if your child is under the age
of 5 and has a significant developmental delay.
2.
Determine
your child's entitlement to special education services in school.
3.
Establish
your child’s entitlement to professional
behavioral support services in your child's home or school if your child
has a need for these services, including EPSDT "Behavioral Health
Rehabilitation" (BHR) services -- sometimes (mistakenly) called
"wraparound" services.
4. Create
an integrated, individualized behavioral Treatment Plan for your child that
will be acceptable to any Managed Care Organization in Pennsylvania
for delivering EPSDT BHR services if they’re needed.
Is there a waiting list for these evaluations?
No. If your child needs help, call us: 610-383-1285.
We can usually get started in less than two weeks.
Why isn't there any cost for these evaluations to determine a child's
need for Medical Assistance benefits?
The cost is paid 100% by the State of Pennsylvania,
regardless of family income, if your child is found to be eligible for
Medical Assistance benefits. If we don’t believe that your child
will qualify
for Medical Assistance benefits, we will tell you so before the
evaluation, so there will be no cost to you in any case, and no unnecessary
travel to our office. If you want a
different type of evaluation (academic achievement, intelligence,
personality), our staff can also help you, but there will be a cost to you (that
cost
may or may not be reimbursable in whole or in part by your private
insurance company).
What if I already
have Medical Assistance benefits for my child?
Unfortunately, if
your child already has MA benefits -- unless you live
in Philadelphia -- our staff can’t help you until you get permission
from your county government to get services from the psychology group that
we work with (The Network for Behavior Change -- the largest private
practice of psychology in Pennsylvania dedicated exclusively to
helping children). It’s unfortunate, we
have tried to change their policy, but we have to follow it if you live in
Chester, Delaware or Montgomery counties. To get the County's permission, you
have to visit one of the evaluation providers they’ve chosen for you and that
evaluator has to
prescribe the services your child needs. After you have their
prescription, if they prescribed EPSDT BHR services (sometimes
mistakenly called
"wraparound" services), you
can probably get those services from the Network for Behavior Change if we are authorized to work in your
county....
The good
news: Because
our staff have been delivering
these services for more than a decade to children as young as 18 months of
age, we can probably help you
work-through just about any situation in this field that confronts your
child. Please call us anytime: 610-383-1285.
