CAMHC CAF building

CHILDREN, ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY SERVICES (CAF)

Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday
8:30am - 5:00pm
Phone: 803-898-4777
For after hours emergencies call 833-364-2274. 

Clinic-based Outpatient Services

Provides individual, family, and group therapy to children and adolescents 3-18 years of age (also serve children up to the age of 21 who are in transitional services through school districts) who present with emotional, behavioral or psychiatric problems.

School Mental Health Services

  • CAF’s largest community-based program.
  • Provides an avenue to increase accessibility of mental health services (individual, family, and group therapy) in a non-stigmatizing environment, provide early intervention and prevention services, and consult with teachers and school staff to advocate for the social, emotional, and psychiatric needs of children in educational settings.
  • Provides psychosocial rehabilitation services during the summer to children who otherwise would not be able to be maintained in traditional summer camp settings.
  • Providing services within schools has been essential for reaching children and families in the rural portions of our county, particularly in the Lower Richland area.
  • Involved in all three school districts that serve students in Richland County.

Crisis Stabilization

  • Provides assessment and referral of youth who present in acute psychiatric, emotional, or behavioral distress.
  • Youth are evaluated to determine the appropriate level of care and intervention (i.e., acute hospitalization, referral for ongoing therapy).
  • Program also provides consultation to local emergency rooms either through face-to-face (PRISMA Health Richland only) or telephone contact during the day.

Wraparound Services

  • Provides in-home behaviorally oriented services to youth and their families to help maintain youth in their home or community environment.
  • Two types of services are provided: behavior modification (intervention provided to the child) and family support (intervention provided to the family).
  • Provides services to children recently discharged from out-of-home placement to increase the likelihood of successful transition back into the community environment.
  • Provides services to children who are at risk for being placed in out-of-home placement due to repeated acute hospitalization or severe disruption in functioning at home or school.

Child Welfare Program

  • Works closely with the Department of Social Services to provide treatment to children who are dealing with the sequelae of abuse and neglect.
  • The Program is designed to provide immediate assessment and counseling services (individual, family, and group) to children who enter public out-of-home (substitute/foster) care to minimize the need for therapeutic placement; to enhance potential for the child’s successful reunification with his/her family; or to assist the child in the processing and acceptance of the permanent placement decision that may be made for them.

Infant and Early Childhood Evaluation and Treatment Clinic

  • Provides assessment and treatment for children ages 0-6 years who present with social, emotional, and/or behavioral disorders.
  • Children who are in need of ongoing treatment also may receive medication monitoring in conjunction with individual and family therapy.
  • Program serves all counties in South Carolina.
  • William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute ran clinic until 2008 when Columbia Area Mental Health Center administratively adopted the program.

Developmental Disorders Clinic

  • Provides a multidisciplinary evaluation for children who have, or are suspected to have Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders who are in need of ongoing treatment also may receive individual, family, and group therapy. Medication monitoring is also available and provided in conjunction with clinical services.
  • Program serves all counties in South Carolina.
  • William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute ran clinic until 2008 when Columbia Area Mental Health Center administratively adopted the program.

Case Management of Children in Out-of-Home Placement

  • Monitors children placed in out-of-home placement to ensure children’s treatment needs are being met, and they are progressing in therapy.
  • The program is deeply committed to providing youth with treatment in the least restrictive setting, based upon each individual’s needs, involving their family, and with proactive discharge planning.
  • The case management program provides services for youth in out-of-home placements, up to age 21, who reside in Richland or Fairfield County.
  • Multi-dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) is a comprehensive and multi-systemic family-based intervention. It is delivered through manualized treatment in a series of 12 to 16 weekly or twice weekly sessions.
  • The treatment focuses on improving the youth’s interpersonal functioning with parents and peers, the parents’ parenting practices and level of parental functioning and communication between family members and key social systems (e.g., school, mental health, and juvenile justice).
  • The model can be used with youth ages 9-26 years of age.

Metropolitan Child Advocacy Center (MetCAC)

  • Is the only state-funded Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) in South Carolina.
  • Primary mission is to conduct forensic interviews and medical exams of children referred by local law enforcement and DSS agencies due to allegations of abuse or neglect.
  • Most of the children seen each year are both medically examined and interviewed.
  • Staff provide trainings across South Carolina.