School-Based Therapy

While this service is provided in the public school, it is not funded or managed by the school system. The Paulding County School District allows The Northrop Connection to provide a therapist on-site in the best interest of the students. However, this is a private service and must be financed by the family of the child, just as it would be if the service were provided in our office. We accept the following insurance plans: Optum, United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna, Medicaid, Caresource, Oscar, Oxford, and Amerigroup. The copay or deductible for your personal plan will still apply. If you do not have insurance or have another plan, the fee is $65 for a 35-55 minute session and $50 for a 25-35 minute session. To limit the time away from class, most school-based sessions are 30 minutes.

• Your child can receive therapy with a minimal impact to their school day.
• No need to come to the office or use telehealth.
• You can still be involved in your child’s care.
• Confidentiality is respected.
• Your child’s therapist, teachers, and other school personnel can work together to best support your child.

The extent your mental health therapist will need to interact with the school will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

However, at the minimum, the school counselor and front office staff will be made aware that your child is receiving school-based therapy.

While not employed by Paulding County Schools, your school-based therapist will wear a Paulding County School badge and will not share any confidential information with school personnel except as approved by the parent or guardian.

The school-based therapist may participate in IEP/504 meetings if requested and can make recommendations for school-based accommodations to help your child succeed academically. However, these are only recommendations, as the school-based therapist does not have any authority to make such accommodations.

Though the parent or guardian may not be physically present during the child's therapy appointment, parent involvement is essential in a child's mental health care!

• We require that the parent be involved in the intake appointment to be able to get background information and to develop an appropriate treatment plan.
• At a minimum, we will communicate with the parent before or after each therapy appointment, and we request that the parent participate for the first 5-10 minutes via telehealth for each therapy session.
• We may provide "homework" for the child to work on to enhance their mental wellness, and we request that the child's family support this work.
• Starting in October 2024, we will be offering monthly parenting seminars on specific topics that may be of interest to you. These seminars will be available via zoom, so stay tuned for details!