Case Management at Riverwood Center helps both youth, families, and caregivers build skills, confidence, and resilience while navigating mental health and life challenges. It provides ongoing, coordinated care as an important part of treatment, ensuring everyone has the right tools and supports.

Our Case Managers partner with youth, caregivers, and families to understand their needs and connect them with both internal and local resources that can help. This may include support with school and learning needs, healthcare, housing, food, clothing, transportation, counseling, and community activities. We also assist youth, families, and caregivers during times of crisis or when someone is in a hospital or other restricted setting.

Because every youth and family situation is unique, Case Management services are personalized and can take place in our office, at school, or out in the community. No two journeys are the same—but we’re here to walk alongside you and help your family or loved ones move toward a stronger, healthier future.

Riverwood Center offers hospital services to help stabilize a child, teen, or young adult who is experiencing a big change in their symptoms or going through a mental health emergency. Community hospital services are provided in licensed psychiatric hospitals or in licensed psychiatric units of general hospitals.

Community Living Supports (CLS) at Riverwood Center is here to help children, teens, young adults, and their families build the skills they need to feel confident and capable at home, in school, and in the community. We work with each youth and family to set goals and priorities through an individual plan of service, making sure support is personalized and meaningful. Services can take place wherever they’re needed most—at home, at school, or out in the community.

CLS can help with things like:

• Daily living skills (bathing, eating, getting dressed, and personal hygiene)
• Helping with household chores
• Learning and practicing safety skills
• Building social, emotional, relationship, and independent living skills

FFT is an intensive, short-term program that focuses on strengthening families. The main goal is to improve communication and build a more supportive home environment while reducing conflict and negativity. Families also learn positive ways to solve problems, encourage healthy behavior changes, and develop effective parenting strategies.

At Riverwood Center, we offer intensive, in-home and community-based services designed to support youth and families right where they are. Our goal is to encourage healthy child development, strengthen family relationships, and help keep families together. We focus on building skills and strengths that set you up for success, with parents and caregivers actively involved every step of the way. Our team works closely with families and partners with other service providers as needed to ensure the best possible support.

We offer specialized, home- and community-based support for families with young children ages 0–6 who may be experiencing emotional, behavioral, or developmental challenges. Our caring team partners with parents and primary caregivers to strengthen parent-child relationships and support healthy development, especially when a parent’s circumstances, mental health, or a child’s unique needs may impact early attachment or growth.

Services are designed to nurture secure bonds, promote resilience, and help prevent concerns such as developmental delays, emotional or behavioral difficulties, and the risk of abuse or neglect. Our support is available wherever it’s most helpful—at home, in school, or out in the community—so families can receive compassionate, expert care in the environments that matter most.

Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive, short-term treatment program designed to address all the influences in a young person’s life—home and family, school and teachers, neighborhood and friends—that affect behavior and well-being. Each of these areas plays an important role in a youth’s world, and lasting change happens when we work with all of them together. MST serves youth ages 9–17 who are involved in the justice system and considered high-risk, focusing on building safer, healthier futures for both the youth and their families.

Our Outpatient Therapy team is here to support individuals facing challenges like anxiety, depression, trauma, psychosis, and co-occurring disorders. We take a person-centered approach, creating personalized goals and strategies that reflect each individual’s unique needs and strengths. Services are offered in both individual and group settings, providing a safe, supportive space for healing and growth.

At Riverwood Center, our psychiatric care services include evaluations, personalized treatment planning, and ongoing support for children, teens, and young adults with serious or long-term mental health needs. Our psychiatric doctors and nurse practitioners work closely with youth and their families to manage symptoms and support the journey toward recovery. We coordinate these services with other Riverwood programs and community resources to make sure care is complete, connected, and focused on the whole person.

At Riverwood Center, we believe that self-determination is essential for youth mental health and well-being. Our self-determination services are designed to give children, teens, and their families or caregivers more choice, control, and flexibility in care decisions. This approach allows everyone to take an active role in developing a person-centered plan and selecting the supports and services that best meet their unique needs and goals. We’re here to empower both youth and their families to make informed decisions, manage their services and budgets (when eligible), and build the skills and confidence needed to thrive. With Riverwood Center’s support, self-determination ensures you’re at the heart of your care—every step of the way.

Under Self-Determination, you can hire your own workers and manage your services within a set budget.

• You have choice and control over your services.
• Your Case Manager/Supports Coordinator supports you to manage the services you choose.
• You are the employer of record with a Fiscal Intermediary (someone who pays your worker(s) for services).
• You directly hire, fire and supervise your workers.
• You set your workers' schedule.
• You decide what to pay your workers (within Riverwood Center's rate).

How does Self-Determination work?

• You make choices about your goals when creating your Person-Centered Plan.
• You determine who you want to help you reach your goals.
• Your family and friends can help you with decisions to make sure that your health and safety needs are met.
• After you have a plan, we will develop a budget based on those services.
• You manage your individual budget (with help from your Case Manager/Supports Coordinator and Fiscal Intermediary).

How do you begin Self-Determination?

It starts with your Person-Centered Plan. At your next Person-Centered Plan meeting, tell your Riverwood Center Case Manager or Supports Coordinator that you are interested in Self-Determination. You can also contact our Self-Determination Coordinator at 269-934-1655.

Important to know:

Medicaid rules still apply under Self-Determination. That means:

• Services must be medically necessary:
  • The kind, amount and length of service must be supported by your condition.
  • Your condition would worsen without the services.
  • All other natural and community supports must be used before Medicaid will pay for a service.
  • Services must be supported by documentation.
• The services provided must match what is in your Person-Centered Plan.
• The staff you choose to hire must meet the minimum Medicaid requirements:
  • At least 18 years old
  • Able to prevent transmission of any communicable disease from self to others
  • Able to communicate clearly with you and Riverwood Center staff
  • Able to report on activities performed
  • In good standing with the law according to the MDCH/PIHP contract
  • Complete required trainings, which may vary based on the type of services being provided

At Riverwood Center, we offer Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment designed to help children and adolescents, ages 3–18, and their families or caregiver(s) recover from the impact of trauma. Through a safe, structured, and supportive environment, TF-CBT helps young people process traumatic experiences, build healthy coping skills, and restore a sense of safety and trust.

Our trained therapists work closely with both the child and their caregivers, providing tools and guidance to address emotional and behavioral challenges, reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and promote healing and resilience. Services can be provided in the home, at school, or in the community—wherever support is needed most.

Trauma can be related to:

• Sexual Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Neglect
• Domestic Violence
• Community Violence
• Unexpected Loss
• Natural Disasters
• War

Trauma reactions can include:

• Intense Fear
• Inability or unwillingness to recall trauma
• Intrusive Thoughts
• Emotional and Physical Numbing
• Difficulty staying still or fidgeting
• Disrupted sleep patterns
• Behavioral Issues
• Rapid change in mood
• Difficulty Concentrating
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Low Self Esteem
• Risky Behavior
• Desire to hurt oneself or others