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Residential Treatment Centers for Troubled Teens

Parents of Troubled Teens look to the local privately owned and operated Residential Treatment Centers for the first line of defense (help and assistance to restore the troubled teen and his or her family).  Private Residential Treatment Centers uniquely provide therapeutic intervention for troubled teens.  These residential programs are usually short term (under 60 days) and deal with a whole littany of issues, such as drug and alcohol treatment, addictions treatment, eating disorders, depression, and other mental and behavioral health issues.

Residential Treatment Centers, even the most internationally acclaimed programs, are designed to treat troubled teens and keep ( mentally ill teens) out of the juvenile justice system.  The biggest issue regarding residential treatment programs is the cost.  Its "Money". Not how much, but how it's controlled and disbursed. And this is the key. In most States the money -- for mental health services for troubled teens, the juvenile justice system, youth correction services (federal grant money) -- goes into one pot and then gets doled out as each case (troubled teen) dictates. "It's like these kids are in a special insurance plan".  The best residential treatment centers are privately run and operated.  They cut through the red tape and manage the funds better, making the programs solid and affordable.  By cutting through territorial barriers among community and government run programs, and the lousy sources of money, private residential treatment services deliver the right mixture of affordable therapeutic services for troubled teens and families who need them.

Among other accomplishments, private residential treatment centers have drastically cut the number of mentally ill and emotionally disturbed adolescents who are "locked up", when what they really need is professional therapeutic treatment. Most States rely on a network of private providers to run community-based group homes for mentally ill youths who've been judged delinquent. Group homes, called Residential Treatment Facilities, can and do refuse to accept children they consider too aggressive, too troubled or too likely to run away. It's a serious form of leverage that juvenile officials in this region lack. Because residential treatment centers get their funding from a variety of sources, there is no single agency that can threaten to deny them their money if they refuse to accept a certain child.

Most importantly, children who complete residential treatment centers reoffend at half the rate as before. Despite suffering from the whole range of mental illnesses, troubled teens rarely have emergency psychiatric hospitalizations, thanks in large part to a crisis group home where they can go for up to two weeks. Wraparound officials have an array of more than 60 services they can tap into, based on an individualized plan that emphasizes a child's strengths. They also believe it is critical to involve the family, even if the term "family" must be broadened to include distant relatives or concerned neighbors.  Flexibility is also important. If a troubled teen is flunking every class except music, most parents will pay for music lessons to build on that strength but without a residential treatment center program music lessons will never be enough. If he tends to get into trouble every afternoon before mom or dad is home from work, after completing a residential treatment center he will getinto an after-school program as "aftercare".

Serving the following States in the U.S. and international locations: