The Child Study Center is the oldest clinic in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry. The original clinic opened in 1969 on the UAMS campus and moved to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 1988. The outpatient clinic moved into its present location in the David M. Clark Center for Safe and Healthy Children in August 2016. The staff of 35, which includes residents, therapists, fellows and faculty members, sees patients from infancy to 17 years of age. Most patients are referred to the clinic by a pediatrician or primary care physician, with many coming from the farthest corners of the state. Some are seen on a short-term basis while others require more extensive treatment for everything from anxiety and depression to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and trauma-related disorders.
The Pulaski County Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit opened its doors in August 2018, offering an alternative to jail or hospitalization for those in the midst of a behavioral-health crisis. The CSU’s staff of RNs, LPNs, APNs, social workers and clinicians accepts guests 18 and over 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Guests are typically referred to the CSU by law-enforcement officials or community mental health centers in six Central Arkansas counties. Staffed by PRI employees, the CSU is located in a former Pulaski County juvenile detention facility. The CSU is considered a short-term stay unit, with the average stay no more than four days. The staff consider their residents “guests” as they are admitted voluntarily and treated with a recovery perspective – one that emphasizes respect, hope, and empowerment.
STRIVE (Seeking To Reinforce My Identity and Values Every Day) provides school-based mental health services to 22 schools in the Little Rock School District and the North Little Rock School District. In operation for 23 years, STRIVE sees clients between the ages of 4 and 18, counseling them as well as their parents and teachers. Anywhere from 500 to 650 students in pre-K, elementary, middle and high schools see STRIVE therapists throughout the school year, at their schools and at their headquarters in North Little Rock. The STRIVE staff also provide art and recreational activities to students at a number of locations during the summer. Most of the 225 clients attended sessions once or twice a week this past summer, working on social skills development while actively engaged in therapy.