Milestones Mental Health Agency

About

Milestones provides counseling and other psychiatric services to children/ adolescents with emotional and/or behavioral problems, in their homes/schools.

Story

Our services include: Assessment, treatment planning, family and individual counseling, skills training, 24/7 mobile crisis services, parent education, medication management, as well as ongoing collaboration with schools and other involved agencies and referral assistance.

We also provide counseling to the caretakers raising our clients who are struggling with their own issues of childhood trauma, mental disorders and/or current life stressors. We can provide services on evenings and weekends, if needed.

Our counseling services are provided in the homes and schools to better meet the needs of our clients, and to provide services in settings that are most comfortable and therapeutic.

The founder and director, Stacey Griffin, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who graduated from the Tulane School of Social Work in 1995. Ms. Griffin has been working in the field with families since 1994 with organizations such as Crescent House Battered Women's Shelter, Child Protective Services and Odyssey House Family Center. Her mother was a public school teacher in New Orleans, and her father a NOPD Police Officer. She recalls from an early age hearing her parents discuss the poor education, crime, mental illness and poverty in our community , and the need for more people to get involved to promote change.

The clinical staff consists of twenty Masters level mental health professionals (licensed and non-licensed counselors and social workers, as well as a contract Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists).

We are state licensed, CARF accredited, and also a member of the Louisiana Behavioral Health Partnership. Milestones currently provide services to appr. 250 families in over 150 schools in Orleans/Jefferson Parish.

Mission

*To reduce the risk of harm to self and others for the youth we work with
*To improve the lives of children suffering from mental health problems and adverse childhood experiences (ACE).
*To empower and educate parents to change old patterns of thought and behavior related to discipline and punishment , and to try more effective , safe and humane methods to shape behavior primarily through
modeling and effective communication.
* To share our belief and supportive clinical research that spanking and other forms of maltreatment (dragging by the arm/ear, pushing to the ground, cursing at, insulting, name-calling, threatening, screaming/yelling) are outdated, ineffective and inhumane forms of punishment/correction, and can lead to inability to learn, problem solve, self regulate and control aggression, and long term health problems....even if no visible marks or bruises result.
*To provide a work environment for professional growth, personal growth and creativity for those who choose to work with our children and families