Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS) are available for eligible children who need short-term behavioral support in addition to any other mental health services they are receiving. The goal of TBS is to help children avoid being placed in a higher level of care such as a psychiatric hospital or juvenile detention or to help children make a successful move to a lower level of care such as returning home or to a foster home following discharge from group care residential treatment.

TBS is a short-term program that focuses on changing a child's behavior, while emphasizing the child's strengths. TBS works in collaboration with the child, the child's caregivers and the primary mental health provider to address 1 to 3 behaviors at a time that jeopardize the child's ability to remain in his or her current home.

TBS services are provided in the child's home, school or community and other environments when and where the child's problematic behaviors occur. Services are approved for 30-60 days at a time and are expected to produce the desired changes within a few months.

The TBS program works in conjunction with the primary therapist and existing treatment team and or parent to develop and implement plans to reduce symptoms/behaviors that jeopardize the child’s placement or prevent a child from moving to a lower level of care. [TBS can not be used as a crisis service, it is a planned service] TBS unfolds in three phases:

• Next, TBS staff works directly with the child and those who care for the child. During this time, TBS staff, the child and the child's caregivers are learning together and taking responsibility for their parts of the child's behavior plan. Interventions and strategies focus on improved self-management, self-awareness, and communication skills as well as positive reinforcement of desirable behaviors. Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills and strategies are integrated into the treatment to enhance overall treatment impact.