Strengthening families.
One step at a time.
Every child, every family, has incredible strength. Sometimes, it just takes the right support to build it. Our behavioral health programs can help children and families who have experienced things like chronic trauma, issues with mental and emotional health, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and more.
Our goal is to help families stay together, navigate hard times, and develop the skills they need for a brighter future.
Case Management
Family Support Services
For Youth with Developmental Disabilities
Navigating the extraordinary path of raising children with developmental differences comes with beautiful moments and also unique challenges. At DABSJ, we seek to ensure that no family walks this extraordinary path alone.
DABSJ provides Family Support Services to families with children under 18 with a developmental disability. Support coordinators work with the families and youth to develop a person-centered plan to help them achieve goals with daily living activities, improve the child’s ability to communicate and interact with their environment, and promote inclusion and participation in the community. These services are primarily provided within the home at least one time per month and include providing a 24-hour crisis response.
The following services are offered:
Support Coordination
Support Coordinators respond to needs and desires expressed by the family, while also providing concrete help in coordinating a family support system and resources.
Community Living Support Services
Community Living Support aides provide 1:1 help with the child. They provide necessary support to children by teaching and training them to live as independently as they can and to promote community inclusion and participation.
Enhanced Health Care Services
Available to those that are authorized for support coordination services including, but not limited to, psychiatric services and medication reviews.
Respite Services
Providing temporary help for the unpaid primary caregiver to support the ability of the individual to live in their natural community home. The child must have Medicaid to be eligible for respite services.
Standard Case Management
Sometimes, you know you need help but you’re not sure how to get it.
DABSJ can help your family with getting services and support that can make life more stable for children and their families, including things like basic needs.
Often, this help is coordinated through Network180 – our community’s mental health authority. We can help you with accessing services through Network180, just reach out and we can get you started.
Ask for help getting started with Network180 services
Network180 Access Center
Open 24 hours
Phone: 616.336.3909
Toll Free: 800.749.7720
Prevention Services
Wraparound Services
Support might come from a lot of different directions – sometimes with gaps or confusion. With Wraparound Services, we help surround you with support that meets your goals. Open to any family working with Child Protective Services, this program centers your child and your family to help advocate for you.
Wraparound Services seek to keep children safely in the home by helping families manage a variety of services and identify family goals.
Anyone who is working with CPS can be referred by their CPS worker, and participation is open to families with or without Medicaid.
Family Skills Program
Every family needs support sometimes. The Family Skills Program helps caregivers strengthen the practical skills that make family life work — like communication, organization, budgeting, and positive parenting. Through hands-on, in-home guidance, Family Skills Workers come alongside families to build confidence, stability, and long-term success.
This program is available through Kent County DHHS referrals for families involved with CPS, foster care, juvenile justice, relative placements, and post-adoption support.
Early Childhood Attachment
The Early Childhood Attachment program at DABSJ serves caregivers and their children (ages 0-5) to strengthen the parent-child relationship and promote healthy development. The program is helpful for biological, foster, kinship, and adoptive families.
Secure, Healthy Attachment
What does “secure, healthy attachment” mean? It’s about building the bond between caregiver and child, and consistently meeting needs as the child looks to their caregiver as a source of comfort, care, and safety. When that relationship is secure, a child feels safe to explore the environment, learns to regulate emotions, develops empathy and later, can build other healthy relationships. This care in the early years can mean so much for a child’s bright future.
You may benefit from this program if you are a parent experiencing:
- Stress with your child’s behavior
- Crisis in the home
- Difficulty bonding with your children
- Questions about development
- Grief or loss
Interested in the Early Childhood Attachment program?
Families can access this service if a parent is pregnant or has a child that is 0-4.5 years old. Also, the child (or expectant parent) must be enrolled in Medicaid and living in Kent County. We accept referrals from a variety of sources including physicians, daycare providers, other community services, and families themselves.
For more information or to get started, contact us at ECAreferrals@dabsj.org or 616.774.3801
In-Home Counseling
Expert help where you are
When counseling help is needed, DABSJ can bring it right to your doorstep. Our team is experienced in several therapeutic approaches, with evidence-based programs to help navigate challenges all in the comfort of home. Whether your family is facing tough times, looking to strengthen relationships, or addressing behavioral concerns, we’re committed to building safety, healing, and positive change. Explore the various in-home counseling options we offer, designed to empower your family’s journey toward lasting well-being.
Multi-Systemic Therapy
This therapy is a beacon of support for families with teenagers navigating challenging times. It’s crafted to empower parents in effectively managing the delinquent and high-risk behavior of their teenagers. We focus on keeping youth enrolled in school and empowering families to change behavior by positively influencing their environment (peers, school, neighborhood, and family).
The program serves youth ages 12-17.5 in Kent County. We often support youth facing several problems, like running away, frequent arguing, domestic violence, school truancy, failing classes, frequent suspensions, theft, substance use, or negative peers. We welcome referrals from juvenile probation officers, juvenile justice workers, and child protective services workers.
We meet families where they are at, so the program can include:
- Coordination with schools
- Connecting families with psychiatric services when needed
- Coordination of services with CPS and court
- Coordination with the family's natural supports
- Family therapy
- Marital/Couples therapy
- Individual therapy
- Intensive home-based services
- 24/7 on-call coverage for emergencies
- Flexible appointment times
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
When a child goes through a traumatic experience, it can have a profound effect – even rewiring their brain. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is in-home counseling to help children heal and process through trauma. This evidence-based therapy is one of the most effective treatments for trauma. It’s all about developing healthy coping skills to do the hard work of processing what happened.
Children who complete the program often see:
- Decreased anxiety and depression
- Fewer behavioral problems
- Decreased feelings of shame and guilt
- Better sleep
- Increased ability to discuss the trauma with trusted adults
Their caregivers also feel more equipped and confident to support their child’s emotional needs and less anxiety about their child’s trauma.
The program works well with foster, biological, and adoptive families, and accepts Medicaid. It lasts about six months.
Home-Based Services
Every family has a unique story, with different challenges and experiences. The DABSJ team is here with a wide array of counseling expertise. We want to help your family work toward your goals for a healthy, happy life together. We offer intensive family therapy right in your home.
In-School Counseling
Helping kids face challenges in and out of their classroom
School is one of the most important environments in a child’s life. DABSJ is proud to be part of the Kent School Services Network (KSSN), bringing crucial support and services right into schools so they’re easy to access.
We place Site Team Clinicians in the schools, offering therapy to children and families. They partner with school staff to identify children and families who could benefit, and work with youth on a variety of mental health issues including trauma, grief, defiance, anxiety, and depression. The clinicians work collaboratively with families, school staff, and other important members of the family’s community to get children the help they need. The goal? To help them be the children they were meant to be, both in and out of the classroom.
DABSJ clinicians are in the following schools:
Grand Rapids Public Schools
- Coit Creative Arts Academy
- Martin Luther King Jr. Leardership Academy
- Gerald R. Ford Academic Center
- Harrison Park School
- Dickinson School
- Sibley School
- Campus Elementary
Kentwood Public Schools
- Southwood Elementary
- Discovery Elementary
- Townline Elementary
- Glenwood Elementary
- Bowen Elementary
- Meadowlawn Elementary
- Crestwood Middle School
- Pinewood Middle School
- Valleywood Middle School
- East Kentwood Freshman Campus
- East Kentwood High School
Expert care for growing minds - for children, teens, and young adults
At DABSJ, our focus is on you. We take the time to truly understand each child – offering expert evaluation, a range of treatment options, and accessible care that fits your family. With extended appointment times and a provider experienced in pediatric psychiatry, we work collaboratively with families and care teams to support each child’s unique needs.
Up to age 20 • Telehealth available • Medicaid accepted
