About the CBH Resource Center

The NH Children's System of Care (CSoC) improves the lives of NH children and youth with mental health or substance use problems by organizing care into a streamlined network of proven services and supports, organized in five tiers matched to different levels of need. What's important about the System of Care is that it is driven by the family and youth, focused on keeping the child in the community, is responsive to people from all backgrounds and cultures, and understands the difficulties that many children, youth, and families have been through. The NH Children’s System of Care is supported by state laws and policies and brings together child protection, mental health, substance use treatment and recovery, juvenile justice, education, child and youth disability, and child development experts, providers, and people who have used those systems. The idea is to align these different systems to improve the behavioral health of all children and youth and to create easier access to care.

The NH System of Care is about organizing services and supports and bringing the different children’s organizations and systems together to make it easier for families and youth to connect to the proven services and supports that meet their needs.

What to Expect

The New Hampshire Children’s System of Care:

• Includes the services and supports that are most likely to help you because they have been proven through research. Those services also take into account your culture and experience.
• Includes a process for getting you to the best services and supports given your needs, at the right time, and at the right intensity.
• Focuses on providing services and supports in the community so the child and youth can be with their family, go to their community school, and move forward with their development, whenever possible.
• Includes partnerships that are constantly working on making services and supports better, based on the experiences of children, youth, and families who use the services.
• Stresses the important roles of the parent or caregiver, including being an active part of your child’s mental health or substance use treatment.

Values and Principles

High-quality treatment reflects the System of Care values and principles:

Who Qualifies?

NH Children’s System of Care law refers to a collaborative network for the delivery of publicly funded behavioral health services to New Hampshire children and youth, ages 1-21. This can include, but is not limited to, children and youth who are part of the following systems:

• Children in need of services.
• Juvenile delinquency.
• Child protection.
• Children with disabilities.
• Children and youth who have a “severe emotional disturbance.”
• Children eligible for early intervention.
• Children eligible for the childcare scholarship program

What We Mean by “Behavioral Health”

Behavioral Health covers both mental health and substance use. Mental health concerns can include problems like depression, anxiety, aggression, and attention problems, among others. Substance use concerns among people under age 18 can include use of any substances, using alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, amphetamines, or opioids, or misuse of prescription drugs. Seek an assessment and professional help when the mental health and substance misuse issues last more than a few weeks or interferes with the child’s or youth’s development, such as getting suspended from school more than once for vaping. The best place to start is by talking with your pediatrician or primary care provider.

The Children’s Behavioral Health Resource Center is set up to help youth, families, and providers to find proven practices whenever possible, based on the NH System of Care model.