Employee Assistance Program

Cindy Freeland, Headquarters

Feeling stressed? Maybe you are doing okay, but your spouse or kids are having some difficulty – and that stresses you out too. You aren’t the only one. The economy is affecting all aspects of our lives. In times like these, when there are all kinds of unanticipated changes to our work and personal lives, we all have a lot to deal with. We want to remind you that Fresno County offers an employee assistance program to help staff and our families cope with these changes.

An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is designed to help employees and their families identify, assess, and resolve issues that may be affecting their personal life and/or job performance. The EAP is available to the employee and/or anyone in the employee’s immediate family who is living in the employee’s home. The program allows for up to three individual counseling sessions per six months and ½ hour legal consultation per issue at no cost to the employee. The full cost of the services is paid by Fresno County. The EAP also offers wellness education seminars that are designed to target specific problems or issues.

Are you interested in receiving financial or legal services? How about some advice to help your children with school. Click on the links below for more information.

Financial Planning
Legal Advice
Back to School Tips

Avante Behavioral Health Plan (ABHP) provides the Employee Assistance Program, Avante Options, to all Fresno County employees and their eligible household members. They are a specialty health plan with a provider network of established mental health care professionals dedicated to delivering appropriate, high quality, comprehensive, cost-effective mental health services.

Avante is legally and ethically obligated to maintain the highest standards of confidentiality. No reports come back to the County or the Library. Avante Options offers confidential services that can help resolve personal family issues. The following services are available to you and your family:

• Clinical Counseling Services for stress/anxiety, interpersonal relationships, depression, substance abuse, grief/loss and other issues.
• Telephone Consultations for legal assistance, financial assistance, tax planning, retirement planning, childcare assistance and other issues.

After the three EAP sessions have been utilized, referrals will be coordinated with the primary care physician if the insurance benefit needs to be accessed.

You can call Avante at 559-261-9053 or 1-800-498-9055, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when you or a family member needs counseling services, or if you have any complaints or disputes with Avante Options and/or a provider.