From day-care centers to Boone County schools, University of Missouri Health Care offers psychiatric outreach programs for children in our local community and to the eastern region of the state.
Our programs are offered to a variety of audiences, from parents to child care providers and health care providers. Click a link below to go to a program.
For Parents and Caregivers
- MU Bridge Program
- Triple P: Positive Parenting Program
- Child Trauma Initiative (CTI)
- SWYC Screening Hub
For Schools and Child Care Providers
- MU Bridge Program
- Early Childhood-Positive Behavior Supports (EC-PBS)
- SWYC Screening Hub
- MO-CPAP Schools
For Health Care Providers
MU Bridge Program: School-Based Psychiatry
For: Parents, Teachers
MU Bridge is a school-based psychiatry program that provides psychiatric evaluation and treatment for school-age children in Boone County at no cost. The program was designed to “bridge” the gap created by long wait times for appointments with community providers. Children will receive an initial psychiatric evaluation with a child psychiatrist or physician assistant and two to three follow-up appointments. The program's nurse case managers will communicate with parents or guardians and help to coordinate care and share resource information. Parents and teachers are asked to complete surveys regarding the child’s behavior before and during treatment. After a treatment plan is initiated and the child is stabilized, their primary care provider, pediatrician, or community psychiatrist will assume care. Currently, all appointments are via telehealth.
Parents, teachers and providers can contact the school counselors or the Bridge staff directly if they believe a child may benefit from the Bridge Program. You may download the brochure to view more information. The Bridge psychiatrists and nurses work as a team with school counselors, teachers, nurses and other school staff for the benefit of every child in the program.
The MU Bridge Program makes psychiatric treatment more accessible and provides timely appointments, helping to reduce crises. Children with emotional/behavioral problems can get back on track faster, so that they can learn, socialize and feel better. For more information, call the Bridge office at 573-882-3125.
The MU Bridge program appreciates funding from the Boone County Children’s Services Fund.
Visit MU Bridge Program: School-Based Psychiatry
Triple P: Positive Parenting Program
For: Parents
Triple P is one of the world's most effective parenting programs. With more than 30 years of ongoing research, Triple P is one of the few evidence-based parenting programs.
- Supports parents in raising confident, healthy children.
- Gives parents the practical skills they need to build strong family relationships, manage misbehavior and prevent problems from happening in the first place.
- Doesn't tell people how to parent, but rather it gives them simple and practical strategies they can adapt to suit their own values, beliefs and needs.
- Recognizes that one size doesn't fit all. It's a system that offers increasing levels of support to meet parents' different needs.
As a part of the Triple P program, seminars on positive parenting will be done in the community free of charge. One-on-one parenting sessions for managing challenging behaviors are available at no cost. All parenting resources from Triple P are free for residents of Boone County.
Triple P is part of the Boone County Early Child Coalition and is sponsored by the Boone County Children’s Services Board.
For more information, please contact Catherine Miller.
Child Trauma Initiative (CTI)
For: Families
Child Trauma Initiative (CTI) provides evidence-based trauma-focused interventions for children age 0-18 and their families who have experienced a traumatic event. Examples include:
- Accident or injury to child or loved one
- Sudden death of a loved one
- Exposure to violence
- Frightening medical procedure
- Domestic violence
- Neglect
- Abuse
Our trauma focused evidence-based treatments include:
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP)
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is a therapy that includes weekly sessions for children from birth to age 6 and their parent/caregiver who have experienced one or more traumatic events. Children who engage in Child-Parent Psychotherapy experience decreased problem behaviors, as well as decreased PTSD and depressive symptoms.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a therapy that includes weekly sessions for children from ages 3-18 who have experienced one or more traumatic events. TF-CBT includes individual and family sessions. TF-CBT has been shown to result in improvement in PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety symptoms, externalizing behavioral problems, sexualized behavior problems, shame, trauma-related cognitions, interpersonal trust, and social competence.
Trauma & Grief Component Therapy (TGCT)
TGCT is a therapy that includes weekly sessions for children ages 12-18 who have experienced bereavement or another type of trauma. TGCT may be provided in individual sessions or in a group. TGCT has been found to significantly reduce PTSD symptoms, depression, and maladaptive grief reactions, as well as improvements in school behavior including school attitudes, rule compliance, and withdrawn behavior at school.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
PCIT is treatment for caregivers and their young children (2-7) experiencing social, behavioral or emotional difficulties. The goal of PCIT is to help caregivers learn strategies that will enhance the parent-child relationship and promote positive behaviors in children. Caregivers interact with their child while receiving coaching from the therapist.
Outreach and Education
The CTI team is available to provide outreach, education and presentations on trauma and grief to community members and agencies.
For more information, please contact Vicki Davolt.
Early Childhood-Positive Behavior Supports (EC-PBS)
For: Teachers
Early Childhood-Positive Behavior Supports combines training and weekly coaching to improve the quality of early childhood program environments in Boone County. This also increases child care providers' abilities for building relationships with children 12 and under and families, which helps to:
- Promote school readiness
- Promote social-emotional development
- Reduce problem behaviors
EC-PBS focuses on prevention and instruction for all students in the program, not just those with behavior problems. It also establishes strategies and support for early child care providers, children and families in the development of age-appropriate social skills. EC-PBS provides parenting classes on effective parenting strategies, such as:
- The importance of promoting social-emotional health
- Building positive relationships with their children
- Bridging the gap between home and school environments
Our program encourages child care providers to work from a team perspective and demonstrates how to use data to support making decisions. EC-PBS coaches work directly with classroom teachers and administrators weekly, and the developmental coach works directly with classroom teachers and administrators monthly.
For more information, please contact Rhema Anazonwu.
SWYC Screening Hub
For: Parents, Teachers, Providers
Organizations involved in the program will work to increase social-emotional screening in Boone County through training on the Survey of Well-being of Young Children and access to a screening hub and referral matrix. The SWYC is a free, first-level screening tool for children 5 and under. The caregiver fills out the survey, which takes about 10 minutes. It assesses children's well-being within developmental milestones, social- emotional health, autism spectrum disorder and family context. Access to the screening hub will work to:
- Increase regular social-emotional screening for children 5 and under.
- Reduce duplication and increase information storage.
- Increase provider access, knowledge and confidence with making appropriate referrals.
For more information, please contact Cindy Reese
Missouri Child Psychiatry Access Project (MO-CPAP)
For: Primary Care Providers
As many as 25 percent of the nation's youth suffer from clinically significant behavioral health problems, with many children and adolescents remaining untreated or experiencing significant delays beforebeginning treatment. With 75 percent or more youth receiving behavioral health care from a primary care provider, MO-CPAP is designed to target consultation and educational outreach efforts to PCPs.
MO-CPAP provides free, same-day expert child psychiatry phone consultation to primary care providers (PCPs) in Missouri. Through consultations, educational opportunities and linkage to help connect patients with referral services, and care coordination PCPs get support treating behavioral health disorders in children and adolescents.
Missouri Child Psychiatry Access Project Schools (MO-CPAP Schools)
To further accomplish its vision to provide behavioral health services to youths in rural and underserved regions of Missouri, MO-CPAP recently launched its MO-CPAP Schools Services. Recognizing that schools are a critical behavioral health access point for many young individuals, MO-CPAP Schools Services offer:
- Clinical Consultation
- Behavioral Health Coach
- Education
Learn more about MO-CPAP Schools Services.
Benefits of Primary Care Providers through MO-CPAP
- Same-day telephone consultations with a child and adolescent psychiatrist within 30 minutes of a call or scheduled at a convenient time.
- Follow-up care coordination to help primary care providers connect their patients with referral services to community-based behavioral health care and other resources for treatment in the area.
- Ongoing education and training opportunities with the opportunity to earn free CME credits.
- Quarterly MO-CPAP newsletters with information about behavioral health training, updates to best practice clinical guidelines, clinical alerts and the latest data on the MO-CPAP pilot.
Learn more about MO-CPAP Program Schools.
Child Psychiatry ECHO
For Providers:
University of Missouri, Compass Health and Burrell Behavioral Health providers empower and support primary care providers to more effectively treat patients suffering from behavioral health issues. The Child Psychiatry ECHO is an integration of medical, pharmacological and psychological considerations into the treatment of the behavioral health patient.
Primary care providers join an online video conference twice per month for six months for a brief presentation by an expert in child and adolescent behavioral health and a discussion of clinical cases.
