COVID-19 and Tele-Therapy Options

March 21, 2020

To our clients, colleagues, and supporters:

During these uncertain times, Outreach Teen & Family Services remains open to provide mental health counseling for children, ages 5-21, and their parents. We are considered a ‘life-essential’ business by Governor Wolf (as of today).

In accordance with CDC and the Allegheny Health Department guidelines, no one will be seen by a counselor if they are exhibiting any signs of sickness. If you have been in contact with anyone who has signs of sickness, please consider re-scheduling your appointment. (No Show fees are waived until the end of March.) We will not allow more than 10 individuals in the office at one time.

If you or someone close to you has been to China, Italy, Spain, France or a state with a high rate of infection, we cannot provide face to face counseling services to you. We are disinfecting our areas daily, and all offices are being wiped down prior to each new client, and immediately after the session to keep those coming into our agency safe and healthy.

We know that changes to routines and uncertainty with schools, jobs and financial situations can strain families already vulnerable when dealing with mental health concerns. We want to be able to continue to provide you with professional counseling services in whichever setting is safest for your children/family, and determined appropriate by our clinical staff.

In order to provide options for counseling sessions, we will be utilizing video conferencing through Microsoft Teams.

We will require a new consent form to be signed prior to these sessions being implemented by counselors.The form can be downloaded here:  Telemed Informed Consent 2020.  

Please sign and return this form either by email or snail mail. (While the HIPAA regulations have been relaxed, we will accept email consent of this form as well. We do ask you return a hard copy as well at your earliest convenience.) Our counseling fees remain in place. Please go to https://outreachteen.org/about/fees-insurance/ for more information on payment options.

We will keep our website and office information up to date with the latest directives. We want to be certain that our counselors and our clients are safe and healthy!

Please read this letter from our Director of Professional & Program Services, Dr. Tracy Scanlon, COVID-19 – Advice for parents

Thank you for placing your trust in Outreach Teen & Family Services for the past 45 years. We are here to promote and provide empathetic, personal, accessible and affordable mental health counseling and wellness programs for children and families during these unprecedented times of uncertainty and change.

Stay healthy,

Mary D. Birks
Executive Director