CHCS provides services to adults with severe and prolonged mental illness who need assistance in achieving and maintaining independence while living within their community; children and their families who are in need of intensive help in dealing with emotional and behavioral problems; and persons who are homebound and recuperating from a serious or terminal illness or who may be in need of home health or hospice services while dealing with a disability or end-of-life process. Community Health and Counseling Services will provide community health services that are needed and valued by the communities and individuals we serve.
Mental Health - CHCS provides mental health services in central, northern, and downeast Maine. We support families, children, and adults in their communities through a network of 12 offices in 8 Maine Counties. Our services range from the traditional office-based care to in-home therapy services, 24/7 mobile crisis services, treatment foster care, and residential care. While not all services are able to be offered from all offices, we seek to find ways in which we can serve the people of Maine through referral to or collaboration with the services that they need.
Children's Mental Health Services - In addition to providing an array of community-based services, CHCS has, over the past several years, incorporated a treatment approach model that helps both the client and the provider be more effective in their shared work. The Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) approach to clinical services utilized by Community Health and Counseling Services is a recovery model that is based on research on the factors that make mental health treatment successful.
Therapy and Counseling - are names of the same service that are often used interchangeably. Both services are delivered by mental health professionals with at least a Master's Degree and appropriate licensing. Availability varies from office to office.
Individual Counseling for children - is provided in our offices as well as other sites in the community. We do offer therapy services in a variety of elementary, middle, and high schools. Please call the office nearest you for availability and scheduling.
Group Therapy for children - is available in a few offices. Please call the office nearest you for availability and scheduling.
Adult Mental Health Services
* Therapy and Counseling * Case Management * Crisis Services * Psychiatry and Medication Management * ACT Team * Rental Services and Housing * Group Homes * Homeless Outreach Service
CHCS Treatment Foster Care - Community Health and Counseling Services is seeking loving and caring families to open their homes to make a difference in a child's life. Become part of our team and help children heal from the trauma of past abuse and neglect. CHCS provides training, support and compensation designed for our professional treatment foster parents.
Fees and Payment
We are non profit agency.
Services Offered To: Adults Teens Children
Special Groups: Bilingual
Payment: Sliding Scale Medicare Medicaid
Were You Able To Make an Appointment?
One quick last question. Who was seeking counseling today?
Do you know the reason they are not accepting clients?
A community counseling agency is a group therapy practice that offers affordable mental health services. Most are independent non-profit agencies, state agencies, or publicly-funded agencies. A few may restrict who is eligible for services, so it is a good idea to check when you call.
Community counseling agencies are generally more affordable than other therapy providers, but how much more affordable they are will depend on whether you qualify for a discount or sliding scale fee (or if they accept your insurance). Many, but not all, have a policy that they won't turn away anyone due to inability to pay. You should ask about their fees when you first call.
Expect to talk to kind people who want to help you find the care you need. Most community agencies strive to connect you with a live person within 24 hours, if not immediately. If you're asked to hold or leave a message, don't give up; just leave a message and wait. You should hear back pretty quickly.
Most agencies try to set up an initial assessment appointment within a week (some do within 24 hours), though the waitlist to start therapy is usually longer—about a few weeks on average. If you're not eligible or if the agency is not right for you, it's usually still worth it to call or drop in, because staff are knowledgeable about local options and can often refer you to one.
