He found that many of the children appearing before him had obvious mental and emotional problems, but there were no facilities in the area to care for them. In the shadow of the Great Depression, the judge and other interested citizens were the catalyst for the formation of what was first called the Des Moines Child Guidance Center. While at first the center concentrated on helping just those children who appeared before the Juvenile Court, it quickly found .the need to expand its services. Some are in infancy, others as old as 18. The problems vary in severity from minor difficulties to serious psychiatric symptoms.
Treatment is done on an outpatient basis.
Children come to the Day Hospital from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for treatment by center therapists and classes taught by teachers from the Des Moines Public Schools. It is similar to the Phoenix Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program offered at Orchard Place, where children come to the campus during the day and return home for the evenings and weekends. This outreach program continues to expand as the need for mental health clinicians to be readily accessible to youth becomes more apparent. The care brings parents and siblings and other family members together to help the child in need. Serious emotional and behavioral problems sometimes require the 24-hour care found at Orchard Place, a Psychiatric Medical Institutions for Children.