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A forensic evaluation can help address forensic questions such as “Does my client or defendant qualify for mental health diversion in California?” or “What is my client’s risk to public safety if released and treated in the community?” or “Does my client have PTSD and how has that impacted him?” Secondly, if a person (defendant) has a history of emotional distress, mental health treatment, special education, or cognitive impairment, an evaluation can be used for looking at mitigating factors and showing how the said disability/impairment impacts the client’s (defendant’s) decision making or functional abilities and how it relates to the instant offense.
The most common forensic evaluations are competency to stand trial, diminish actuality, and mental health diversion qualification. In addition, common juvenile delinquency cases include the aforementioned plus transfer to adult and Franklin hearings. Our reports also help you craft your legal arguments.
If your child is struggling in any of the areas below and you are not sure how to help, a neuropsychological evaluation will be useful in getting to the root of the problem. We will help you understand your child’s strengths and weaknesses and provide you with a plan of action for home and/or school (recommendations + accommodations + resources).
When working with a psychologist to help your child thrive, it is imperative that you select someone who has excellent training, education, and experience. We specialize in working with school-aged children, young adults, and the brain! In order to provide a platform for us to understand your child’s needs best, we offer a free 20-minute consultation.
We conduct evaluations all year long. Our intakes are scheduled on Mondays and Tuesdays. This is for the parents only in order to provide background on the child and family and history of the problem without the child present. Intake sessions are 90 minutes to two hours. Our testing sessions are scheduled on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays!
We offer a few evening appointments for intakes and feedback sessions. All clinical neuropsychological evaluations are scheduled in our Glendora office. Forensic evaluations are scheduled within the timeframes of the attorney’s deadline. Please keep in mind, for all evaluations, we are booking out about 4 weeks in advance at this time.
We offer different types of evaluations. Each one is customized to meet your, your child, or your client’s needs. Our 2023 rate is $400 per hour. Forensic evaluations vary in hours needed. You are welcome to call our office to discuss a total estimated cost for your specific evaluation.
For private firm attorneys, we have a retainer agreement and fee schedule we can send for your review. For public defenders and district attorneys with Los Angeles County, our office can send you the detailed breakdown of hours, psychological/neuropsychological tests, and total fees for the court order. We will submit billing forms to the Los Angeles County Superior Court PACE office once the report is completed.
Forensic evaluations are not covered by insurance as they are not medically necessary. They are for the purpose of psycho-legal matters. For clinical neuropsychological evaluations, we are not in-network with any insurance companies. To provide quality service to our clients, we decided to work directly with our clients.
Oftentimes, insurance companies will say they cover services and then go back on what they said once the claim is in, leaving you with the bill and broken promises. Also, insurance companies dictate how many hours and what type of standardized testing methods can be used since they are paying. Often, they will “approve or authorize” X amount of hours, not nearly enough to complete a comprehensive and well-informed evaluation of your child.
Practices that typically take insurance will make this work by cutting down the number of hours they meet with you, your child, or writing the report itself. They will mass schedule to make a profit leaving many areas untouched or done in a rush manner. Moreover, the insurance companies take days to weeks to provide authorization, if at all. We pride ourselves on efficient and comprehensive high-quality work in order to help your child thrive!
We accept all major credit cards. We also accept Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts, and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HSA/FSA/HRA). We require payment in full at your first appointment.
For neuropsychological evaluations, if you have a PPO plan, it is possible to seek potential reimbursement for services (except educational and forensic evaluations). If you would like one of our administrative assistants to do an initial courtesy check of your ‘Out-of-Network Coverage, contact our office via phone or email. We will need a copy of your insurance card.
You can email or text it to the office at (626) 709-3494 (we have secure HIPAA-compliant and end-to-end encrypted technology platforms). Ultimately, you are responsible for verifying your coverage. You will also be responsible for paying for our services upfront and seeking reimbursement from your insurance company if you choose to do so (that is the Out-of-Network process). We will provide you with what we call a “super bill” detailing services and the appropriate codes. Contact your insurance company and ask about your “Out of Network Coverage” for a neuropsychological or psychological evaluation.
Questions to ask:
And we would love to help answer it. Contact our amazing support team at (626) 709-3494. They can receive calls and texts on this line! If you prefer to write, you can email them at support@vpg-corp.com and they will return emails within one business day. We look forward to working with you!
