The Bridge Program
Treatment for autistic children, teens, and adults who also live with a mental health condition — and who have been falling through the gap between autism services and behavioral health care.
Most programs treat one side or the other. Autism services often set the mental health condition aside; behavioral health care often is not built for how an autistic person communicates, processes, or regulates. The Bridge Program is built for people who need both addressed at once, by the same team, in the same plan.
Across the lifespan, not just childhood
The Bridge Program serves children, teens, and adults. There is no upper age limit. Autistic adults are frequently the hardest group to place, and they are explicitly included here.
A person is a fit for this program when both of the following are true:
- A psychological or medical evaluation states a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
- There is at least one co-occurring mental health diagnosis.
The evaluation is the entry requirement
Entry requires a psychological or medical evaluation stating Autism Spectrum Disorder and at least one mental health diagnosis. If the evaluation is not in hand yet, send the referral anyway and note that it is coming. The office will follow up for anything missing rather than closing the referral.
What the work addresses
Referrals come in around some combination of the following. Most people arrive with several.
- Communication
- Daily living skills
- Social skills
- Flexibility and handling change
- Coping and emotional regulation
- Unsafe or challenging behavior
- Anxiety and depression
- Mood or psychotic symptoms
- Transition to adulthood
- School or work participation
- Caregiver support
Two services, one treatment plan
Research-based behavioral health treatment
Structured skill-building around communication, daily living, social skills, flexibility, emotional regulation, and safety — delivered where the skills actually need to work: at home, in the community, and in the settings the person moves through.
Caregivers and the people who support the person day to day are part of the plan, not observers of it.
Outpatient psychotherapy
Individual psychotherapy addressing the co-occurring mental health condition directly — anxiety, depression, mood or psychotic symptoms, trauma, adjustment — using an approach adapted to how the person communicates and processes.
The therapy and the behavioral work are coordinated rather than running in parallel through separate agencies.
Why both together
Skill-building that ignores an untreated mental health condition tends to stall. Therapy that ignores how an autistic person communicates and regulates tends not to land. Keeping both inside one plan, with one team, is the point of the program.
Meeting people where the skills are needed
Home
Routines, daily living skills, caregiver coaching, and regulation strategies practiced in the place they have to hold.
Community
Skills applied in the settings the person actually uses — appointments, stores, transportation, work, programs.
Office
In-office sessions in the Charlotte region.
Telehealth
Offered where it is clinically appropriate for the person and the goal.
Living settings served include: with family, independent, Alternative Family Living (AFL), group home, and supervised or supported living. Residential provider staff are included in the plan where they are part of the person’s support.
Insurance and care management
The Bridge Program is built around North Carolina Medicaid coverage. The referral form captures plan information so coverage can be verified before the first appointment.
| Pathway | Plans |
|---|---|
| Tailored Plans | Alliance Health · Vaya Partners · Trillium · Medicaid Direct |
| Standard Plans | AmeriHealth Caritas · Healthy Blue · UnitedHealthcare · Carolina Complete Health |
If a person has other insurance, send the referral and the office will review coverage with you. Coverage questions are worked out with the referral source rather than used to turn a referral away at the door.
Already receiving other services?
Some services affect when outpatient therapy can be billed. These are reviewed with you, and they do not rule out a referral:
- Assertive Community Treatment (ACT)
- Intensive In-Home
- Multisystemic Therapy (MST)
- Day Treatment
- SAIOP and SACOT
Current ABA providers, prescribers, primary care, and existing therapists are all captured on the referral form so that care is coordinated rather than duplicated.
How to refer
- Send the referralUse the online referral form, which accepts document uploads. You may also fax (877) 418-3074, email referrals@cheryllandrews.com, or call (877) 305-0570.
- Attach what you haveThe diagnostic evaluation matters most. Recent psychiatric notes, medication list, insurance card, IEP or 504 plan, care plan or ISP, guardianship papers, and any crisis or safety plan all help. Send the referral even if something is missing.
- A Care Navigator makes contactThe Care Navigator contacts both the referral source and the family within two business days of receipt.
- Coverage and fit are verifiedPlan information is checked and the referral is reviewed against program criteria.
- Assessment is scheduledOnce accepted, assessment is scheduled and the treatment plan is built from it.
Consent to be contacted
The person referred, or the legally responsible person, must know about the referral and agree to be contacted by Cheryl L. Andrews & Associates. The referral form captures that agreement.
Common referral questions
Is there an age limit?
No. The Bridge Program serves children, teens, and adults. Autistic adults are explicitly included.
What if the autism evaluation is not finished yet?
Send the referral and note that the evaluation is coming. Entry requires an evaluation stating Autism Spectrum Disorder plus at least one mental health diagnosis, but the office follows up for missing documents rather than closing the referral.
Is this ABA?
No. The Bridge Program provides research-based behavioral health treatment delivered by licensed counselors, alongside outpatient psychotherapy. Clients who also have an ABA provider are welcome; the referral form captures that provider so the work is coordinated.
Does a current service like Intensive In-Home or ACT disqualify someone?
No. Those services affect when outpatient therapy can be billed, and they are reviewed with you. They do not rule out a referral.
Can services happen in a group home or AFL setting?
Yes. Living settings served include family homes, independent living, Alternative Family Living, group homes, and supervised or supported living. Residential provider staff are included in the plan where they support the person.
How quickly will someone hear back?
The Care Navigator contacts the referral source and the family within two business days of receiving the referral.
Who can refer?
Care managers, psychiatrists and prescribers, psychologists and LPAs, pediatric and primary care practices, hospital and discharge planners, ABA providers, residential and AFL providers, schools, vocational rehabilitation, and families or the person themselves.
This is not an emergency service
The Bridge Program referral pathway is not for emergencies. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
Autism and mental health, addressed together.
Complete what you know. The office follows up for anything missing, and a Care Navigator makes contact within two business days.
Fax (877) 418-3074 · referrals@cheryllandrews.com · Office (877) 305-0570