Children's Transitional Residence Piscataway

Children appropriate for admission to CTR are those who are discharged from psychiatric hospitals, or children whom traditional outpatient or in-home services are insufficient to maintain them in the community. Referrals come from the University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC) inpatient unit or from other child care facilities such as group homes, foster homes or CMO referral. The children appropriate for admission present with one or more psychiatric diagnoses, along with symptoms or behaviors that do not warrant in-patient level of care, but cannot be addressed with a lower level of intervention services. The families or identified caregivers are encouraged to partake in weekly family therapy sessions, consistent visits as clinically appropriate and monthly treatment meetings held with the interdisciplinary team. The family or identified caregiver or Department of Children and Families/Division of Child Protection must agree to the placement.

In pre-admission, the youth and family/caregiver/guardian are introduced to the program, provided with an overview of services and provided with a tour of the facility. They will meet with the CTR Program Manager, Program Coordinator and Program Clinician and identify the youth and family needs along with identifying the challenges that have led to PCH level of care placement. The Program Manager, Dr. Adisa Alghali, Ed.D, LPC, ACS, will make an admission decision within one week. It is the responsibility of the inpatient unit to notify the involved family and agencies, obtain consent forms, and provide a physical examination. Whenever possible, a pre-admission visit is arranged for the child and family prior to the transfer to the CTR. Dr. Adisa Alghali, Ed.D, LPC, ACS, is the contact person. This program receives referrals from children's In Patient Mental Health units and also accepts referrals from community agencies. Callers should be directed to 732-235-4300. Once admitted, the youth, family and CTR interdisciplinary team including the psychiatrist, nurse, clinician, manager, coordinator, milieu representative, and the school liaison, will meet with the family, discuss treatment, complete necessary consent forms, medical forms and assessments. At this time the family will be provided with information regarding future meetings, such as the monthly Child Family Team (CFT) meeting. At this time an initial treatment plan will be transcribed with the family/caregiver and assigned workers.

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When necessary, children may be re-admitted to the inpatient unit. In emergency situations the CTR staff notifies security and/or Acute Psychiatric Services, depending upon the nature of the emergency. The clinician supervisor of the CTR is a senior clinician, who reports directly to the clinician administrator for Child and Adolescent Services, is responsible for the overall unit functions.

Discharge planning begins at the moment of referral to the CTR. The main objective is to either assist the child and/or family sufficiently so that the child may be discharged to the family with community services in place or provide treatment services for the child awaiting long-term residential treatment. The program's mental health clinician carries out discharge planning under the supervision of the Program Manager. Discharge planning is part of the youth’s monthly treatment team meeting. The length of stay at CTR is generally 6-9 months.