Youth & Families
Community & Home-Based Services
Riverside provides comprehensive mental health and behavioral support services for youth and families facing emotional and behavioral challenges. Our integrated approach combines home-based clinical services, therapeutic mentoring, and intensive care coordination to help youth thrive in their communities. From in-home family therapy and crisis intervention to wraparound care planning and family support training, we work collaboratively with families to prevent out-of-home placement while strengthening family dynamics and building essential life skills.
About Riverside Community Service Agency
Building Bridges to Support, Care, & Community
Riverside Community Service Agency (CSA) provides both Intensive Care Coordination and Family Support & Training.
Intensive Care Coordination (ICC) provides wrap-around care planning, coordinating multiple services and supports for youth with serious emotional challenges. The ICC team works closely with the family to ensure they have access to whatever supports and care are most appropriate for their child.
Our Family Partners, who have experience as caregivers of youth with special needs, provide Family Support & Training. A Family Partner works closely with the family’s Intensive Care Coordinator to help parents or caregivers by teaching them how to navigate the child-serving systems, identify community supports, develop contacts with support groups, and more.
Family Driven, Youth-Guided Care
Riverside’s CSA offers Family Intensive Treatment (FIT) to support children and teens who were recently discharged from a hospital or residential facility.
FIT is short-term intensive care for families in urgent situations. The team partners with youth and caregivers to strengthen support systems and ensure a safe and stable home life. As a family’s well-being improves, we facilitate a smooth transition to ongoing community-based services that match a child’s evolving needs.
CSA Service Area:
Canton, Dedham, Dover, Foxboro, Medfield, Millis, Needham, Newton, Norfolk, Norwood, Plainville, Sharon, Walpole, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, & Wrentham
Anyone may refer to our Community Service Agency (e.g. parents/caregivers, youth, schools, state agencies, providers, etc.) with the consent of the family or guardian. For more information or to make a referral, please call us toll-free at 877-869-3016.
“Our support team is a dream team and although they all meet with us separately, it seems as if we’re all together. They communicate as a team perfectly.”
– Lawrence T. (Parent of Youth Served)
Department of Mental Health Flex Program
Assisting Parents, Uplifting Children, & Strengthening Familial Bonds
Riverside’s Department of Mental Health (DMH) Flex teams partner with families to provide personalized services that can deter out-of-home placement for youth with significant mental health challenges. Our teams help youths improve self-regulation, enhance emotional well-being, and develop critical self-advocacy goals. Assisting parents in supporting the growth and recovery of their child is another essential function of the DMH Flex Program.
DMH Flex Program Locations
In-Home Family Therapy
Expert Assistance from the Comfort of Your Own Home
Our goal is to help children and their families stabilize the immediate situation and develop a long-term plan to manage potential future crises. We work to support families and prevent any out-of-home placement of children. Our clinicians also teach parents how to identify, access, and navigate through school systems, social services, and other community resources.
Supporting the Whole Family
Riverside’s In-Home Family Therapy program addresses the emotional and behavioral difficulties faced by youth (up to age 21) while simultaneously working to improve family dynamics. We provide personalized strategies to promote the child’s healthy behavior at home, in the community, and at school. This program supports the whole family, including parents, caregivers, and siblings who may be affected, by providing them with tools to better cope with and manage crises.
Our skilled in-home clinicians are trained in crisis intervention, clinical assessment, and treatment. Clinicians maintain small caseloads to ensure focused attention on each family and often meet directly in the family’s home. We provide one-to-one support to assist with daily living, social interactions, and communication skills.
Our Expertise
Our clinicians have extensive experience in many areas, including:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Trauma
- School Refusal
- LGBTQ+ and Transgender Identity
- Separation and Divorce
- Death of a Loved One
- Attachment
- Difficult School Behaviors
- Opposition and Aggressive Outbursts
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Adoption
In-Home Family Therapy Location
“I like how goal-oriented my sessions with my therapist are. She’s very helpful in determining what I can work on and making sure I’m supported.”
– Jasmine H.
Intensive Community Services/FIRST
Strengthening Families & Restoring Stability
Our Intensive Community Services support families with a child or adolescent experiencing serious mental health needs. We offer care through the Intensive Community Services and the Family Intensive Reunification and Stabilization (FIRST) Team. These programs provide similar supports but differ based on which state agency handles the referral.
Intensive Community Services Help Build Connections
The Intensive Community Services (ICS) team provides in-home intensive clinical care management and treatment for children with severe emotional disturbances who are at risk for out-of-home placement. ICS works with youth and their families to coordinate supports within the community, including schools, hospitals, religious institutions, and community agencies. Our goal is to help families identify, strengthen, and enhance support systems that will assist the long-term sustainability and success of the child.
Family Intensive Reunification and Stabilization Team
The Family Intensive Reunification and Stabilization Team (FIRST) aims to significantly reduce or eliminate the amount of time children with severe emotional disturbances spend in out-of-home placement (such as hospitals or institutions). We accomplish this goal by partnering with families and community providers to divert placement or accelerate the reunification process. FIRST provides home-based clinical care coordination, including:
- One-on-one support for family members
- Family work
- Case management services
- Brief respite
Intensive Community Services Location
Therapeutic Mentoring
Youth Therapeutic Mentoring: Personalized Growth & Support
Therapeutic Mentoring consists of individualized, one-to-one mentoring sessions between a Therapeutic Mentor and a child or teen. These sessions support a specific goal on the child’s behavioral treatment plan, such as developing social skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving strategies, or daily living skills. Mentoring sessions occur in the child or teen’s home or another community setting.
Therapeutic Mentoring gives children and teens the opportunity to build skills through experiences that naturally occur in their everyday lives. To help the child develop a specified skill, their Therapeutic Mentor works to model, educate, motivate, and coach them on how to use this new ability.
What is a Therapeutic Mentor?
Therapeutic Mentors have an array of skills to help children and teenagers build on their strengths. They work closely with a licensed clinician and collaborate with the child’s family and clinical team to achieve a specific skill-building goal. Therapeutic Mentors create a positive relationship with the youth they work with to achieve goals through creative learning experiences. Additionally, they work with the child to provide their family with feedback on their progress and the skills they are practicing. Therapeutic Mentors can also collaborate with the family when implementing these strategies at home.
Examples of Skills That May Need to be Developed Include:
- Perceived competency
- Building interpersonal skills
- Finding and engaging positive peers
- Positive family relationships
- A sense of belonging
- Finding and identifying natural mentors
- Asking for and receiving help
- Positive expectations for the future
Therapeutic Mentoring Location
Family Networks
Enhancing Family Support Through Integrated Services
Riverside’s Family Networks provide coordination services for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) Cambridge/Burlington Area Office. We support DCF families by coordinating essential services for youth, caregivers, and families. We collaborate with those we serve to avoid out-of-home placement, support youth as they reunite with their families following separation, and assist youth in congregate care settings.
Family Networks Location
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