Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Care in Central Massachusetts and Beyond

Working together with youth and their families, we offer comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services to improve and transform the lives of young people struggling with psychiatric conditions. Our dedicated clinicians evaluate children and adolescents to offer a variety of evidence-based interventions across many conditions, including:

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism and other developmental disabilities with behavioral features
• Anxiety
• Mood
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Psychotic disorders

Psychiatric Consultations

We also offer child psychiatric consultations for primary care providers and youth with medical conditions, among other services, including:

Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (CANDO):

CANDO offers a variety of services for youth and young adults with emotional, behavioral and complex challenges. The team consists of child psychiatrists and psychologists, advanced practice nurse, and a social worker. CANDO offers evaluation for individuals with developmental disabilities (including autism spectrum disorder and Fragile-X) and co-occurring behavioral health challenges. CANDO also helps connect referred families with resources in the community, in addition to referring to other specialties as needed.

Primary Care Physicians: Please use the CANDO Request for Services form.

Child Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry:  

Our Child Consultation service is comprised of interdisciplinary team members, including child psychiatry, psychology and social work, all with extensive experience in behavioral health. We provide assessments, recommendations, and support for a variety of behavioral health needs for children and their families while they are admitted to the Children’s Medical Center. These services include safety and risk assessment, assistance in coping with new or chronic medical illness, evaluation of a child who has experienced a traumatic event, and referrals for more intensive or outpatient psychiatric treatment.   

Child Emergency Mental Health:

Our Emergency Mental Health Services are available 24 hours a day and include on-campus resources in the Duddie Massad Emergency and Trauma Center, as well as our mobile crisis evaluation teams through Community Healthlink that can assess youth at their homes, schools or other community-based sites. Mobile Crisis Evaluation: Worcester Team: 866-549-2142; North Central Worcester County Team: 800-977-5555.

Emergency Mental Health for Children

• Pediatric Emergency Mental Health Services at UMass Memorial Medical Center provide brief intervention, when appropriate.
• Services are provided at the UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus Emergency Department.
• Our evaluation team can travel to other community sites.
• Please call 508-856-3562 to access services.
• Services are available 24 hours a day for all ages.
• Staff will help establish follow-up care.

Community Healthlink (CHL): 

CHL’s Youth and Family Services offers a variety of mental health, substance abuse treatment and social services throughout Worcester County. More than 5,000 children and adolescents receive services annually through Youth and Family Services programs in Worcester, Clinton, Leominster and Fitchburg. Outpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry services are available at CHL’s Youth and Family Services in Worcester (508-791-3261) and CHL’s Lipton Center in Leominster (978-537-0956 or 978-466-8384).

Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP): 

MCPAP continues to be a mental health service that pediatricians can access when they are seeking urgent consultation to assist them in managing the behavioral health needs of the patients they treat. MCPAP services may include telephone consultation to the primary care physician and, when indicated, a one-time face-to-face evaluation conducted by either a prescriber or a psychiatric social worker to help establish correct diagnoses. MCPAP prescribers will make recommendations to the pediatrician related to psychopharmacology when appropriate. Additional information, archived webinars, screening and toolkits are available on MCPAP’s website.

MCPAP: Western/Central Regional Team, phone: 844-926-2727 and email: mcpap@beaconhealthoptions.com.