The Care Continuum for Youth Mental Health Provided by Acadia Healthcare’s Affiliated Facilities

America's youth mental health crisis persists at alarming levels, with CDC data showing 40% of high school students experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 20% seriously considering suicide, and 9% attempting suicide in the past year. While this represents a slight improvement from 42% reporting sadness in 2021, mental health professionals emphasize the crisis is far from over.

Acadia Healthcare's affiliated network of treatment facilities aims to provide multiple levels of age-appropriate treatment services across the country for children and adolescents struggling with mental and behavioral health disorders. This continuum of care aims to provide each child with treatment tailored to their specific needs and developmental stage.

The State of Youth Mental Health 

Many experts argue that the need for specialized youth mental health services has intensified alongside the digital transformation of adolescent social life. 

Research increasingly links heavy social media use to concerning mental health outcomes. Yale Medicine notes recent data indicating that over three hours of social media use per day increases the risk of anxiety and depression. The constant exposure to curated, idealized lives online creates unrealistic comparison points, while cyberbullying extends harassment beyond school boundaries into previously safe spaces. Sleep disruption from nighttime device use can further compound these challenges. These digital stressors, combined with academic pressures and decreased face-to-face social interaction, can create a perfect storm of mental health challenges that require specialized intervention approaches beyond traditional models.

Children and adolescents face unique developmental challenges that can complicate mental health treatment. The impact of mental health disorders varies considerably based on a child's age and stage of development, with children and teens sometimes at increased risk for certain types of disorders compared to adults. 

This recognition of age-specific needs is a central feature of the approach taken by Acadia Healthcare's network of affiliated treatment facilities, which offers services for children at various ages.

The Complete Care Continuum

Acadia Healthcare's affiliated facilities provide multiple levels of care designed to address different severity levels and treatment needs. 

The most intensive level, inpatient treatment, is designed to offer short-term care for children experiencing acute symptoms. This level of care is meant to help young people stabilize and enhance their well-being so they can transition home or to a lower level of care.

Residential treatment facilities offer care to support longer-term treatment needs. According to the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare, "Residential treatment provides a necessary level of care for children and adolescents with significant needs, such as those at risk of hurting themselves or others or who have been diagnosed with serious behavior problems.”

For less intensive but still structured support, partial hospitalization programs (PHPs) enable children to participate in full-day therapeutic services but return home in the evenings. This arrangement allows for intensive treatment at a facility while maintaining the child's connection to home. 

Intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) are the next step down in care intensity, typically involving about three hours of treatment three days per week. This format can provide substantial therapeutic support while allowing young people to continue with school and other activities.

Finally, traditional outpatient services, including individual therapy sessions, offer ongoing support that can be particularly valuable after completing more intensive treatment. These sessions can be scheduled at a frequency that works best for each child's needs and circumstances.

Age-Appropriate Therapeutic Approaches

The treatment centers within Acadia Healthcare's affiliated network employ various evidence-based therapeutic approaches tailored to children's developmental stages. Rather than applying adult treatment models to younger patients, these facilities design clinical interventions tailored to the fact that children process information and emotions differently at various developmental stages.

Therapeutic modalities include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Treatment centers might also implement trauma-informed care practices that acknowledge and address adverse childhood experiences that often underlie behavioral health issues.

Providers emphasize family involvement in the treatment process. Family therapy sessions help improve communication, build trust, and develop problem-solving strategies that the entire family can implement. These sessions recognize that a child's mental health challenges affect and are affected by family dynamics, making family participation crucial for lasting improvement.

Educational Services Within Treatment

A distinctive feature of youth treatment programs is their integration of educational services. Many children entering mental health treatment have struggled in traditional school environments, and interrupting their education during treatment could create additional challenges upon their return to regular schooling.

To address this concern, treatment programs coordinate with each child's school district to ensure educational continuity. 

For children in partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient programs within the affiliated network, educational coordination becomes even more critical as they often split their time between treatment and regular school attendance. Staff members help develop plans that balance therapeutic needs with educational requirements, sometimes including specialized academic support.

Multidisciplinary Treatment Teams

Treatment teams may include psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, nurses, educational specialists, and recreational therapists who collaborate to address each child's needs holistically.

This team approach is based on the recognition that children's mental health challenges rarely exist in isolation. Physical health, educational performance, social development, and family relationships all influence and are influenced by a child's mental wellbeing. 

Staff members receive specialized training in child and adolescent development, trauma-informed care, and crisis intervention techniques appropriate for younger patients. 

Transition Planning and Aftercare

Perhaps one of the most critical elements of youth treatment programs is their emphasis on transition planning. Treatment doesn't necessarily end at discharge; instead, careful planning can help ensure that gains made during treatment continue as children return to their homes, schools, and communities.

Discharge planning begins early in the treatment process, with staff working alongside families to identify community resources, arrange follow-up appointments, and develop strategies for maintaining progress. Resource Coordinators can remain in contact with families after discharge, providing support and helping address any challenges that arise during the transition period.

The continuum of treatment offered by Acadia Healthcare’s affiliated facilities allows for stepped transitions between levels of care based on clinical need. Rather than moving directly from intensive residential treatment to minimal support, children can gradually step down through partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programming, with each transition managed to ensure continued progress.

Related: Acadia Healthcare Invests $100M in Patient Care Technology