Frequently Asked Questions

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SPRINGyouth is a nonprofit in the state of Texas, working towards our 501(c)(3) status, dedicated to creating an interdisciplinary team to keep kids at home who are otherwise at risk of out-of-home placement.

Out-of-home placement refers to any mental health, eating disorder, or substance use treatment center where the person in care lives at the program rather than their home. Some examples are residential treatment centers, therapeutic boarding schools, wilderness programs, boot camps, military schools, etc. These are sometimes referred to as "higher levels of care".

SPRINGyouth works with kids (and their families) who are 8+ years old and have struggles with things like depression, anxiety, trauma, complex trauma, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, self-harm, chronic illnesses, and/or identify as neurodivergent. Note, we do not work with kids who primarily struggle with substance use, though exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis.

SPRINGyouth works with kids (and their families) who have just been discharged from an out-of-home placement or are at risk of out-of-home placements. Right now, we offer services to those in Central Austin in Austin, TX.

SPRINGyouth offers a variety of programs, centered around creating a team-based approach to care. This means that we work with you and your family to make and keep a team of professionals from multiple disciplines (such as mental health therapy, occupational therapy, psychiatry, pediatricians, support groups, etc) to help you or your child thrive. 

SPRINGyouth is a type of wraparound care, which is an intensive service dedicated to child-centered and autonomy-based community care by having the child's family, support systems, medical and mental health providers a part of one team. 

No. SPRINGyouth is not a therapy provider. Instead, we work with you and your family to find and keep a team of providers and clinicians to support you. 

Yes! While we are not therapists or therapy providers, we are still a "covered entity" under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). For any services offered that do not fall under being a "covered entity", we voluntarily choose best practices in regards to the handling of your and your family's health information, all of which are HIPAA-compliant. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please reach out!

This is an amazing question, and one that is very important for a service provider (even if not therapeutic) to be able to answer in a way that fits your values. At SPRINGyouth, we understand that everyone is different and has their own needs, strengths, goals, and things to improve upon, so we use all of that knowledge in our planning. Unlike many programs and services, SPRINGyouth does not (and cannot) work with everyone, so we are selective with the kids and families we work with to offer the best services possible. If we decide we aren't the best fit, we provide resources that might be a better fit. 

Additionally, SPRINGyouth offers peer support services, which are non-clinical, anti-carceral, and person-centered supports from someone who has "been through it". Being a Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS) in the state of Texas is a state-regulated certification with both supervision and continuing education requirements, as well as strict ethical guidelines. 

These are two amazing questions, and ones that can be confusing. Peer support differs from therapy primarily in that we use our stories to help show our peers that recovery is possible. While there is an inherent power differential, peer support specialists strive to decrease that wherever possible, as the folks we work with are our peers, not clients or patients. Additionally, peer support specialists operate from a place of the power of choice, believing that our peers (or peeps) are more than capable of making good decisions. As peer support specialists, we operate around the questions of "What do you want in your life?" and "How can we make those happen?"

Therapy, on the other hand, is the treatment and diagnosis of mental health challenges. Therapy is amazing and a service we connect you with as a part of your team. Therapists are masters- or doctoral-level clinicians dedicated to using different modalities (such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Eye-Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), etc) to treat mental health and other concerns.

While not youth anymore, our MHPSs at SPRINGyouth are still young, connected, not too many years separated from our adolescent years, and people who severely struggled during our adolescent years. In our eyes, age doesn't make a difference in establishing if you are a peer. Are you a person? If yes, you are a peer. 

Unfortunately, you don't. SPRINGyouth does not promise results, as that would be unethical and, frankly, impossible. Mental health struggles, however they show up, are extremely complex and recovery isn't always linear. There will be setbacks, though we work together to work through our setbacks and continue making progress. If we do end up in a higher level of care (such as inpatient), we work together to figure out what happened, what worked, what didn't work, and use that knowledge to adapt our plan for success.

SPRINGyouth focuses on creating "a life worth living", which is a skill taken from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. When we create a life worth living, we are more motivated to putting time and effort into recovery and recovery-focused actions. 

Everyone's definition of recovery is different. For some, that means total abstinance from any behaviors, be it self-harm, disordered eating, substances, etc. For others, it means living with their struggles and doing what they can to reduce the harm of behaviors. For some, its a mix of both or their own definition. As we change, our definitions of recovery can change, too.

Yes! Very rarely, if ever, a child's mental health struggles are just theirs. Usually, there is some sort of communication difficulties between family members, environmental factors, and more, that contribute to a child's struggles. No one is at fault or to blame, and there are things everyone can do to help out!

Unfortunately, commercial health insurers tend not to cover services like SPRINGyouth, so we do not take insurance. 

While we can work out a payment structure that works best for you and your family, we do not offer refunds.

We understand that life happens, so we require 24-hours notice for any cancellations. Cancellations 24 hours or less before the start of our scheduled appointment will incur a full fee. No-shows will also incur a full fee. Any discretion regarding rescheduling is left to your MHPS.

In order to make services accessible, we offer a limited number of sliding scale spots. Please inquire regarding availability at info@springyouth.org.