Introduction
Psychological Services is a division of the Administrative Office of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit that has committed to make available the highest quality of diagnostic and treatment services to clients. The Psychological Services Division provides a wide array of services to the Lake County Courts, Adult Probation Services, and Juvenile Probation Services. These services include conducting psychological evaluations, providing counseling to probationers, consulting with probation staff, and coordinating referrals to and monitoring service contracts with community social service providers.
A Quick Look at the Psychological Services Division
Our
Organization
- Adult Community Services
- Adult Assessments & Treatments
- Juvenile Community Services
- Juvenile Assessments & Treatments
- Treatment Program (FACE-IT)
- Psychologist
- Therapists
Our Programs and Services
Psychological
Evaluations
The Division conducts a range of assessments including:
- fitness to stand trial evaluations for the Courts;
- not guilty by reason of insanity evaluations;
- psychological evaluations of individuals undergoing presentence and pre-plea investigations;
- mental health evaluations of individuals on probation, including individuals being considered for the Therapeutic and Intensive Monitoring (T.I.M.) Court.
Counseling Services
The division provides numerous counseling services, including individual counseling to both adult and juvenile probationers, addressing a wide range of mental health issues. Family counseling services are provided to juvenile probationers and their families and address issues like communication, limit-setting, and effective parenting. Group counseling is also provided, including anger management groups for adult and juvenile probationers, as well as parenting groups for adult probationers and for the families of juvenile probationers. Psychological Services also assists probation staff in conducting Cognitive Outreach Groups (COG) and COG aftercare groups.
Families and Community Engaged in Treatment (FACE-IT)
FACE-IT is an innovative residential treatment program that was designed and developed to serve delinquent youth within Lake County. The program houses twelve (12) residents and strives to help meet the basic needs of these male juvenile probationers and their families in order to enable them to function productively within society, be self-sufficient, and obtain a sense of dignity and self-worth without criminal behavior. The goals of the FACE-IT program include addressing and modifying criminal thinking, mental health issues, family conflict, and educational difficulties by utilizing interventions based on evidence-based practices.
In 2008, the clinical staff of the residential treatment program Families and Community Engaged in Treatment (FACE-IT) became part of the Psychological Services Division. The clinical staff consists of two doctoral level psychologists and one master’s level therapist and they are responsible for conducting and overseeing all therapeutic programming for the residents of FACE-IT.
Staff Consultation
The staff of Psychological Services frequently provides consultation to probation staff about the mental health needs of probation clients. This includes assessment of suicide risk for probationers in crisis.
Referrals and Contracts
Psychological Services has three community resource liaisons, two for Adult Probation Services and one for Juvenile Probation Services. The liaisons oversee the contracts with a number of community service providers. The liaisons also coordinate the referrals to the community providers for the evaluation and treatment of juvenile and adult probationers.
There are federal and state funded programs within Lake County that are designed specifically to serve delinquent youth on probation and deter further delinquency that could result in detaining or committing the youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The programs are coordinated by Psychological Services, Community Resource Liaison.
Unified Delinquency Intervention Services
Kids Hope United is the recipient of the Unified Delinquency Intervention Services (UDIS) funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services. The community based treatment program is designed to intervene with high risk probation youth and deter potential commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The Unified Delinquency Intervention Services (UDIS) program has been serving probation youth in Lake County since 1999.
Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Initiative (MHJJI)
The Lake County Health Department is the recipient of grant funding through the Illinois Department of Human Services. The Mental Health/Juvenile Justice Initiative (MHJJI) facilitates the identification, screening, referral, and case monitoring of juveniles in detention who are identified as having mental illness. The initiative is aimed at strengthening the linkages among the courts, probation, detention, schools, health care, mental health, and other community based services.
Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
Kids Hope United obtained a federal grant through the US Department of Health and Human Services to implement a Multisystemic Therapy (MST) Program for probation youth in Lake County in 2008. MST is a unique, goal-oriented comprehensive family-focused treatment program designed to serve multi-problem youth in their community. MST is an evidence based practice that targets chronic, violent, or substance-abusing male and female juvenile offenders at risk of out-of-home placement. The primary goal of MST is to reduce youth criminal activity, reduce other types of anti-social behavior, and achieve these outcomes at a cost savings by decreasing rates of incarceration, commitments to the Department of Juvenile Justice, and out-of-home placements.
Early Service Program (ESP)
The Administrative Office of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit is the recipient of a delinquency prevention grant through the Illinois Department of Human Services. This program provides youth with community based case management and therapeutic services. Eligible youth are diverted from formal court proceedings.
In 2008, the Juror Stress Program was implemented by two psychological services staff that were trained in critical incident debriefing. These staff are available to conduct one time individual or group debriefings for jurors that have been traumatized by their jury duty experience. Jurors in need of additional intervention are referred to community service providers.