Psychosexual Evaluation for Children
Overview
We offer clinician(s) qualified to complete comprehensive and timely psychosexual evaluations for children up to age 17. These clinicians are licensed in the State of Florida as LMHC/LMFT/LCSW/LPC and are trained and certified through the National Board of Forensic Evaluators (NBFE). These psychosexual evaluations assess any and all relevant information provided, including but not limited to: a child’s relationships, mental health, empathy, sexual history, accountability for one’s sexual behaviors, motivations for sexual offense(s), arousal patterns, cognitive functioning, attitudes toward sex and desire to make meaningful changes. This is to aid in determining the origin of abnormal sexualized behavior and/or a child’s risk to sexually offend in the future. It also helps to determine treatment needs and appropriate treatment setting(s). It does not “prove” a child is guilty or innocent of a crime, and does not qualify a person as a “sex offender.” Psychosexual evaluations are often required/recommended by the court, child protection, or treatment providers. A forensic evaluator is not permitted to provide ongoing mental health therapy to the child being evaluated.
What to expect
Once we determine that we can appropriately provide a psychosexual evaluation, paperwork will be sent to you to complete as well as a Good Faith Estimate (GFE). Insurance companies do not cover the cost of psychosexual evaluations, and the evaluations must be paid out-of-pocket. The initial session will consist of a clinical interview with an evaluator, either online or in-office as appropriate, with the caregiver and/or child. Relevant background information from any child welfare agency, government agency or law enforcement may be gathered. A history of the child’s sexual abuse or sexual behavior will be obtained. Interviews could also be conducted with family members, therapists, and others deemed relevant to your situation; therefore, we will ask the child’s legal guardian to sign a Release of Information for any identified third party that the evaluator must contact. All pertinent legal documents will be obtained and reviewed. Subsequent sessions will consist of taking a series of psychological assessment measures, questionnaires, and risk assessment measures as the evaluator determines which assessments are most appropriate. The evaluator may choose three to five psychological assessments to administer, based on the child’s age and circumstances.
FEES
The estimated time our clinician(s) will spend on providing a psychosexual evaluation may be approximately 15 hours per evaluation, depending on the situation. This time includes not only time spent providing assessments, but also assessment scoring/interpretation, gathering collateral information, reviewing records, and written summary of the results. The total cost of our psychosexual evaluation is $2000. Insurance plans cannot be billed for these evaluations. A deposit for half of the evaluation ($1000) is due prior to the evaluation being scheduled. Any balance due will be collected prior to the release of results or the issuing of a final report.
In summary, the benchmark events in obtaining a psychosexual evaluation for a child are:
REC receives psychosexual evaluation request (or referral from the child welfare agency, if relevant)
Complete all relevant paperwork
Pay deposit ($1000)
Schedule evaluation session one
Complete clinical interview
Complete assessments
Pay balance ($1000)
Receive full written results summary of psychosexual evaluation