Fast answers to frequently asked questions 

How to get effective treatment started quickly and easily with virtually no "waiting" if you live in Philadelphia or your child doesn't already have PA Medicaid (Medical Assistance) benefits....

What exactly are these “Behavioral Health Rehabilitation” services – “BHRS” or “wraparound” services? 

BHRS refers to in-home and/or in-school behavior support to address troublesome behavior of all sorts in children under the age of 21 who need these services and receive them via Medical Assistance funding (at absolutely no cost to families whatsoever, regardless of income).  Sometimes they are mistakenly called “wraparound” services.  BHRS staff employed by the Institute for Behavior Change (IBC) are well-trained and closely supervised by licensed psychologists who specialize in the treatment of children with mental illness and behavioral disorders.  You can click on any hyperlink below to view the Job Description for that position (Adobe Reader is required for viewing).

Behavior Specialist Consultant (BSC) providers have Masters degrees and experience in the use of behavioral psychology with children.  If they work for IBC, they receive face-to-face supervision from licensed psychologists and work closely with parents and teachers to design and monitor the child's Treatment Plan on a weekly basis.  They supervise TSS providers who carry out the child’s Treatment Plan.

Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS) providers have Bachelors degrees and deliver 1:1 support to children according to a written Treatment Plan.  They remain with the child for several hours at a time (typically between 10 and 25 or more hours per week).  They give advice to the child, correct misbehavior therapeutically, and prevent the child from taking steps in the wrong direction.  They work closely with parents and teachers to help the child to be more successful at home, at school and in the community. 

Mobile Therapist (MT) providers have Masters degrees and work under the direct supervision of licensed psychologists.  They provide in-home and in-school psychological counseling to the child, and meet with parents, teachers and other involved adults to help the child to develop a healthier self-image, learn more mature social skills, and improve interpersonal relationship skills.

Program Specialists have Masters degrees and experience with diagnostic educational, intellectual, and behavioral assessment instruments.  They work under the supervision of a Certified School Psychologist and perform diagnostic evaluations of children in schools.

Licensed Psychologists are licensed by the State for the independent practice of psychology.  At IBC, they are all specialists in developmental and child psychology, and take full and complete responsibility for the professional services delivered by staff under their supervision.  They do not prescribe medicine (Psychiatrists do that). 

www.ibc-pa.org/IBC-NBC Organizational Chart.pdf has more in-depth information about the Institute for Behavior Change and how to get services (Adobe Reader is required for viewing).

Click here to download the slides from our presentation "Medicaid, EPSDT and 'Wraparound'" to learn more about EPSDT services. 

Are these services effective? 

IBC has been collecting treatment outcome data for more than 10 years.  Based on over 500 treatment records selected at random between 2002 and 2007, success rates between 74% and 82% have been documented, addressing physical aggression, communication deficits, personal safety issues, compliance with adult prompts and socialization deficits, based on parental report of progress.  Our staff began delivering these services in 1981 -- more than 10 years before any other provider in Pennsylvania, and we've consistently earned the highest praise from parents, advocates, and even Managed Care Organization officials for the quality and integrity of our work.  Call us anytime at 610-383-1432.  For more in-depth information, go to  www.ibc-pa.org/EPSDT_services.htm or Press Release and BHRS study 071608.pdf for a treatment outcome analysis completed by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that was presented at the bi-annual Training Institutes in Nashville, TN in July of 2008.

If my child must have Medical Assistance (MA) to get these services, is my child eligible for Medical Assistance? 

Yes, if he/she lives in Pennsylvania, is under 21 years of age, and has a disability, your child is almost certainly eligible for Medical Assistance benefits.  It costs you nothing to ask.  Please call anytime:  610-383-1432 for more information.  If you would like written information about the evaluation process or the Institute for Behavior Change, including our Organizational Chart, click here.

How long does it take to get an evaluation from you to determine my child’s eligibility for MA benefits? 

Provided that your child is a Pennsylvania resident under 21 years of age with a disability and without Medical Assistance benefits, if you can visit our office with your child (outside Coatesville in Chester county) the evaluation can be completed in a few hours, and the written report of the evaluation can be delivered to you in less than 30 days.  Our single evaluation can also be used to establish a child’s need for BHRS, Early Intervention services, and Special Education services.  We are the only organization in Chester County that offers this rapid, thorough and completely free evaluation service to determine a child’s eligibility for Medical Assistance benefits. 

 What does your evaluation involve? 

About one hour of your responding to questions about your child, completing a brief behavior rating scale about your child’s typical behavior, and having the child meet briefly face-to-face with a licensed psychologist from the Network for Behavior Change (a private psychology practice group specializing in children's mental health diagnosis and treatment).  The psychologist’s finished report can usually be delivered to you in less than 30 days.  It will be about 12-15 pages long and will cover everything that any insurance company, funding agency or treatment service provider in Pennsylvania could possibly want.    

Who performs this evaluation? 

A trained mental health professional will ask the questions, write down your answers and help you complete the behavioral rating scale.  A licensed professional psychologist and Certified School Psychologist will meet with your child face-to-face and complete the evaluation.  

Besides establishing a child's eligibility for MA benefits due to a mental disability, does your evaluation have any other uses?

Yes.  Our evaluation report can serve four additional purposes simultaneously: 

1.  Establish eligibility for Early Intervention services if your child is under the age of 5 and has a significant developmental delay.

2.  Determine your child's entitlement to special education services in school.

3.  Establish your child’s entitlement to professional behavioral support services in your child's home or school if your child has a need for these services, including EPSDT services, "Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services" (BHRS) and/or "Wraparound" services.

4.  Create an integrated, individualized behavioral Treatment Plan for your child that will be acceptable to any Managed Care Organization in Pennsylvania for delivering BHRS or “wrap-around” services if they’re needed.

Is there a waiting list for these evaluations?

No.   If your child needs help, call us:  610-383-1432 x16 and leave a secure voicemail message for our Intake Coordinator who will return your call promptly.  We can usually get started in less than two weeks. 

Why isn't there any cost for these evaluations to determine a child's need for Medical Assistance benefits? 

The cost is paid 100% by the State of Pennsylvania, regardless of family income, if your child is found to be eligible for Medical Assistance benefits.   If we don’t believe that your child will qualify for Medical Assistance benefits, we will tell you so before the evaluation, so there will be no cost to you in any case, and no unnecessary travel to our office.  If you want a different type of evaluation (academic achievement, intelligence, personality), we can also help you, but there will be a cost to you (that cost may or may not be reimbursable in whole or in part by your private insurance company).

I can't believe you can do these evaluations so quickly.  And at no cost.  How is that possible?  

Different evaluations have different purposes.  We do not offer medical evaluations.  We are behavioral scientists, not physicians, and our evaluations are targeted to providing a comprehensive review of your child's strengths, weaknesses and needs from a biological-psychological-social perspective that will establish your child's eligibility for Medical Assistance benefits if he or she has a disability that is recognized by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.   Obviously, we don't make a profit on our evaluations to determine a child's eligibility for Medical Assistance benefits; we do them because they need to be done quickly so that necessary treatment services can get started.  You should obtain other evaluations to serve other needs, and we will help you determine what those other needs might be when we meet with you.

Like all organizations that provide evaluation services (hospitals, etc), more than one professional is involved in the evaluation process, including people with Masters degrees in psychology who work under the close supervision of licensed psychologists to conduct interviews, collect behavioral information and create draft evaluation reports that a licensed psychologist with decades of experience helping children relies upon in meeting with you and your child in order to rapidly form responsible professional conclusions about your child's strengths, weaknesses and needs.  This licensed psychologist completes the evaluation, generates the final diagnoses and recommendations, and is fully responsible for the content of the evaluation report, but a large part of the evaluation is performed by unlicensed supervisees.  By dividing up the responsibility for the evaluation in this way, it is possible to perform an excellent, comprehensive evaluation quickly and cost-efficiently that achieves its intended primary purpose: determining whether or not your child is eligible for Medical Assistance benefits due to a mental disability.

What if I already have Medical Assistance benefits for my child? 

Unfortunately, if your child already has MA benefits -- unless you live in Philadelphia -- our staff are not permitted to help your child until you get permission from your county government to get services from us.  It’s unfortunate, we have tried to change their policy, but we have to follow it if you live in Chester, Delaware or Montgomery counties.  To get the County's permission, you have to visit one of the evaluation providers they’ve chosen for you and that provider has to prescribe the services your child needs.  After you have their prescription, if they prescribed BHRS, it’s possible for our staff to help your child….

The good news:  Because our staff have been delivering these services for more than a decade to children as young as 18 months of age, we can probably help you work-through just about any situation in this field that confronts your child.  Please call us anytime:  610-383-1432.

Click here for driving directions to the Institute for Behavior Change office in Exton, Pennsylvania.