Description of the Basic Service Level

The Basic Service Level consists of a supportive setting, preferably in a family, that is designed to maintain or improve the child’s functioning, including:

1. Routine guidance and supervision to ensure the child’s safety and sense of security;
2. Affection, reassurance, and involvement in activities appropriate to the child’s age and development to promote the child’s well-being;
3. Contact, in a manner that is deemed in the best interest of the child, with family members and other persons significant to the child to maintain a sense of identity and culture; and
4. Access to therapeutic, habilitative, and medical intervention and guidance from professionals or paraprofessionals, on an as-needed basis, to help the child maintain functioning appropriate to the child’s age and development.

Characteristics of a child who that needs Basic Services

A child needing basic services is capable of responding to limit-setting or other interventions. The youth needing basic services may include:

1. A child whose characteristics include one or more of the following:
   1. Transient difficulties and occasional misbehavior;
   2. Acting out in response to stress, but episodes of acting out are brief; and
   3. Behavior that is minimally disturbing to others, but the behavior is considered typical for the child’s age and can be corrected.
2. A child with developmental delays or mental retardation whose characteristics include minor to moderate difficulties with conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.