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10.01.2024

Supporting Children with Complex Mental Health Needs: How Connect Nevada Helps Families Stay Together

As parents and caregivers, it’s natural to focus on your child’s physical health, but their emotional and mental wellbeing is just as important. For some young children, mental health challenges can be more complicated, requiring additional care and attention. These are called complex mental health needs.

Complex mental health needs in young children can refer to a variety of conditions that require multiple health and social support services. These conditions can include, but are not limited to:

• Mental health disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder, down syndrome, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Children with complex mental health needs may need high intensity, individualized treatment options to address their needs. Mental health disorders in children can significantly impact families, leading to stress, strained relationships, and challenges in providing the necessary care and support. 

When a child's mental health needs are complex or severe, families may struggle to manage behavioral and emotional challenges at home, which can sometimes lead to the involvement of child protective services (CPS). 

In extreme cases, if a child's safety or well-being is at risk and adequate care cannot be provided, out-of-home placements, such as foster care or residential treatment programs, may be considered to ensure the child receives the appropriate support and care.

Connect Nevada: Strengthening Youth, Empowering Families is a program to help children, youth and young adults with complex behavioral health needs who are at risk for out-of-home placement, stay safely with their family and friends at home/in the community. 

Magellan Healthcare manages this program and works with the State of Nevada to build a strong system of care for these youth and their families. 

Services are available to eligible children and youth and their families. It does not matter if you have health insurance or what kind of insurance you have.

Eligibility 

To be eligible for Connect Nevada services, children and young adults must be ages 3 through 20, have complex mental health needs, and are either:

• At risk of out-of-home placement;
• Placed in a residential treatment facility or other inpatient setting;
• Involved in multiple child-serving systems*; or
• At risk of custody relinquishment to a state or county agency due to behavioral health needs.

*For eligibility purposes, “child-serving systems” are defined as: agencies that serve children, youth, and families. Contact Magellan Healthcare for additional information or to see if you qualify.

Services we provide

Through a youth-guided and family-driven, strengths-based approach that is coordinated across child-serving agencies and providers, Connect Nevada provides access to:

• Care Coordination services: High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW), Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) and Targeted Case Management (TCM) 

• Intensive home-based treatment
• Emergency and planned respite
• Family and youth peer support

High-Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) is a planning process that involves a child and family team (CFT) made up of a Care Coordinator, the youth and their family, providers and others who are close and supportive. Together, the CFT creates a comprehensive plan of care to help the youth succeed at home and in the community.

Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) is similar to High-Fidelity Wraparound but is offered to youth who may not have a caregiver, or to youth and families who would prefer a less intensive level of engagement.

Targeted Case Management (TCM) is the lowest intensity service that allows youth and their families/caregivers to have a periodic check-in with a care manager while they receive other services under the Connect Nevada program.

Intensive Home-Based Treatment (IHBT) is for children/young adults who are at risk of out-of-home (OOH) treatment or returning from OOH treatment. These services are provided at home, at school, and in the community. It is family therapy to help the family work through challenges together.

Emergency and Planned Respite gives temporary relief for parents/guardians caring for a child/young adult with mental health needs. It can also help parents/guardians who are in a situation that may put a child/young adult at risk of out-of-home treatment or child welfare involvement. Respite can be planned or given during a crisis (emergency).

Family and Youth Peer Support services are delivered by trained support partners who have lived experience with mental health needs. They help navigate child-serving systems, find information, offer support and compassion, and provide resources to help youth at home, in the community, and at school.

For more information about Connect Nevada or to enroll in the program, call 1-833-396-4310 (TTY 711) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or visit MagellanofNevada.com.