Child Health and Disability Prevention Program: CHDP

The Referral Process

What are CHDP Referrals?
One of the goals of the CHDP Program is to find any medical, dental, nutritional and developmental problems that a child may have. Once such a problem has been found, a child may need a referral for diagnosis and/or treatment for that problem. The CHDP health professional must assist families obtain the care their children need.

How does the referral process work?
When a problem has been found during a CHDP examination, the health professional and the family discuss and decide what to do. If possible, the provider may treat the problem; for example, a prescription for a medication may be given to the family. Sometimes a different kind of treatment is needed to solve the problem and the examiner knows the resources within Santa Barbara County and can refer the child to a specialist, like an ear doctor or dentist.

What kinds of resources are available to pay for a referral?
This is not an easy question to answer; each family has a different situation. Children who have full scope Medi-Cal or Healthy Families can use their insurance to pay for specialized care. For families without insurance, there are many resources that depend on the type of problem and family situation. This is the place where the CHDP Administrative Office can assist the examiner and family with possible resources.

Does the CHDP Administrative Office help with the referral process?
All children who had a problem found during a CHDP examination will get follow up services from the CHDP Administrative Office. Depending on the problem, a staff person will call or send a letter to the family or the examiner to find out if a referral was made and if the child got treatment. If not, the staff person tries to help the family or provider with a referral and a way to pay for the expense.

Is CCS related to CHDP and part of the referral system?
California Children's Services (CCS) is the other half to Children's Medical Services (CMS). CMS administers the CHDP and CCS programs. CCS is a program for children who have serious medical conditions. This Program helps children receive care from pediatric specialists. This website has many pages related to CCS.

Can families refer their children for services without the help of a health professional?
Families can find many of the resources for children themselves. Parents often can make referrals happen faster by starting the process with a phone call or a letter. Families can call or visit the CHDP Administrative Office if they need help with a referral; click on CMS Staff . Families can also click on Health Education and Community Resources to discover other resources about their questions.

In Santa Barbara County there are many public and private providers of CHDP services. The list does not give the names of all the physicians and allied health professionals who perform the examinations at these provider sites. You may call a provider site to find out who are the examiners and whether there are openings for a CHDP examination.

Download CHDP Provider Site List

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