PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY, TRAUMA-INFORMED, CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE CARE
River Oak employs and trains staff to be both culturally competent and culturally responsive and to consider the impact of prejudicial incidents on ethnic minority individuals, families and their communities. Understanding and dismantling racism, mitigating unconscious bias and rectifying discrimination and stigma are central to this effort. Furthermore, we recognize that racism, historical events and population demographics have a disproportional impact on the physical and behavioral health of people of color, including depression, anxiety and other serious, sometimes debilitating conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders.
PROGRAMS
Flexible Integrated Treatment
FIT serves infants, children and youth (ages 0-21) with a team approach to treatment planning allowing clinicians the flexibility to assess the level and type of services needed. As treatment needs vary over time, services are tailored to fit without interruption. Equally flexible is the location of service: home, school, River Oak clinical sites or community setting to best accommodate the family/care provider. A wide array of treatment interventions, to include multiple evidence-based programs, are used to include individual, family and group therapy.
Juvenile Justice Diversion and Treatment Program
JJDTP is a Full Service Partnership for probation-connected youth and their families, designed to enable youth with a Serious Emotional Disturbance and current involvement in the juvenile justice system to remain in their homes, schools and communities by providing a comprehensive array of mental health services and supports. Youth are referred between the ages of 13 and 17 years and may participate up to age 26. Goals include stabilizing placements, reduce homelessness, support academic participation, increase vocational or employment opportunities, reduce psychiatric hospitalizations and detention or incarceration.
Wraparound
WRAP is an intensive child-focused and family-centered approach driven by individualized needs to “wrap” services around a child, aged 3-18 years, at risk of losing their current placement or in order to return a child or youth from residential care to family setting. WRAP uses a collaborative team approach to bring a wide array of natural community supports and professional services to allow a family to build on their strengths. The team develops, facilitates and continually evaluates a comprehensive plan of services and resources. Children or youth place out of county or out of state are successfully reintegrated into a welcoming Sacramento home.
Therapeutic Behavioral Services
TBS is an intensive 3-4 month program provided to children and youth needing immediate assistance for behavior stabilization. The TBS team helps identify the trigger and the pay-off to a problem behavior. Very specific plans are designed to allow the child or youth’s needs to be met in a healthy way. Working closely with the caregiver, skills are developed to replace the high-risk behaviors.
Early Head Start Home Education Program
Tailors program services for children age birth to 3 years, and pregnant women to improve outcomes in cognitive, language and social-emotional development through weekly home visits. Referrals and access to community resources, group socialization activities and preschool readiness are offered. In partnership with Sacramento employment Training Agency Early Head Start.
Birth & Beyond Family Resource Center
Provides services and activities that educate, develop skills and connect families to community resources. The FRC located in Sacramento’s Oak Park community offers parenting workshops, home visitation, school readiness and crisis intervention services. Expecting parents, children and youth up to age 17 are welcome. Funding provided by First 5 Sacramento.
PRACTICES
The Incredible Years
The Incredible Years® evidence based parenting programs focus on strengthening parenting competencies and improving attachment and interactions with their child. The target ages for our parent group is ages 6-12. We also have a skill building group for ages 6-9 that clients of River Oak Center for Children attend while their parents/caregiver attend group. The interventions taught in these programs are suitable to treat aggressive behavior problems, and ADHD. This program is evidenced based to prevent conduct problems, delinquency, violence, and drug abuse.
Motivational Interviewing
MI is a client-centered counseling style that helps a person identify and change a behavior that is not consistent with their personal values or goals. The person identifies the problems, consequences, risks and benefits of the behavior as they move through change.
Transition to Independence Process
TIP assists transition aged youth bridge the gap from adolescence to young adulthood through gaining skills and engaging in their own futures planning.
Teaching Pro Social Skills
This research-based program works to equip youth aged 13-18 years with developing social, anger management and moral reasoning skills in a group setting. Parents/caregivers are encouraged to attend the 10 week workshop with their youth.
Coping Cat
Is a cognitive-behavioral treatment for ages 8-17 to treat anxiety disorders.
PC-Care
PC-CARE is a 6 session program where therapists teach and coach caregivers to increase their positive parenting skills and to find the behavior management strategies that are most effective for their child.
Services offered to complement treatment programs
Psychiatry
Psychiatric evaluation, medication monitoring, consultation and case management are offered on referral throughout all agency clinical services. All psychiatrists are either pediatric or adolescent board certified.
Psychology
Staff psychologists provide assessment and consultation to ensure the highest quality of service and outcome.
Family and Youth Advocates
Are available to support all youth and families enrolled in River Oak services. This team has lived experience navigating complex social service systems to qualify them to provide assistance, support and insight to our youth and families.