Are you wondering if your child qualifies for inpatient mental health treatment and care? Read this helpful guide to find out. Learn how to find an inpatient treatment center near you.
- What is Inpatient Mental Health Care?
- Types of Inpatient Mental Health Care
- How to Get Inpatient Treatment
- How a Child Qualifies for Inpatient Treatment
- How Do I Find the Best Inpatient Treatment Near Me?
- What is the Baker Act for Involuntary Treatment?
- What Happens to Children in Inpatient Treatment?
- What is Inpatient Treatment Like for Children and Teens?
- Can I Visit My Child in an Inpatient Treatment Program?
- What is the Cost of Inpatient Treatment?
What is Inpatient Mental Health Care?
Inpatient mental health treatment is a type of care for mental health issues that takes place in a hospital. It is usually recommended for youth with severe mental illnesses or those who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
Inpatient mental health treatment can be a good option if a youth has been hospitalized before and needs more intensive care, has been having suicidal thoughts, or has been violent with others. Inpatient treatment also may be the best option if the teen is addicted to drugs or alcohol and needs to get sober before they can participate in outpatient therapy.
Inpatient treatment is also available for children with eating disorders who need medical supervision and support.
Most inpatient treatment programs are meant to be short-term, with a common stay being up to 7 days. Some programs will allow a stay of 30 days or longer, especially those for drug and alcohol treatment and eating disorders.
Often length of stay is determined by what the insurance company determines is a needed level of treatment.
Types of Inpatient Mental Health Care
Inpatient treatment can take place on an open ward, closed ward, partial hospitalization program, day hospital program, intensive outpatient program, or residential treatment center.
Children in treatment are typically in a locked wing of the hospital for their safety and security. They are carefully supervised and monitored at all times.
How to Get Inpatient Treatment
The most common way to get inpatient treatment for your child is to take him or her to the emergency room (ER) at your local hospital, children’s hospital, or psychiatric hospital. There, the staff will evaluate your child to determine if they are in need of 24-7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week or round the clock) care and supervision.
Another way to get inpatient treatment is to call the local mental health crisis hotline in your county. Some counties offer an assessment team (either at a location you drive to or a team that comes to your home) to evaluate the situation.
Some inpatient programs, such as longer term programs or programs for eating disorders or substance abuse, have an intake interview and paperwork process.
Occasionally the police or EMTs will suggest evaluation for inpatient care when they come to your home for a 911 call. Only call 911 if you or your child are in immediate danger.
How a Child Qualifies for Inpatient Treatment
Because inpatient care is one of the most acute and intensive forms of care, it is reserved for children who have the highest need. Typically, inpatient care is for children who are in danger of harming themselves or others.
Here are reasons for inpatient mental health treatment:
Inpatient mental health treatment is usually recommended for children and teens who:
- Have suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
- Pose a threat to themselves or others.
- Experience hallucinations, delusions, or out-of-control thoughts.
- Have difficulty caring for themselves.
- Have an addictive disorder and/or a mental health disorder.
- Require extensive monitoring or help managing medication.
Here are some of the disorders that lead parents to seek inpatient care for their children:
- depression
- anxiety
- PTSD
- schizophrenia
- eating disorders
- Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) with immediately urgent out of control behaviors
- Autism, ASD, or Asperger’s with immediately urgent out of control behaviors – click here for more specific help for inpatient treatment for autism
- drug and alcohol abuse
How Do I Find the Best Inpatient Treatment Near Me?
To find the best treatment near you, read reviews of mental health inpatient settings that are available. Because treatment can be hard to find and fund, you may be limited in options by what your insurance will pay for and where a bed is available.
As always, every parent is the best advocate for their child’s care, so don’t give up on researching the treatment that is best for your child.
What is the Baker Act for Involuntary Treatment?
The Baker Act is a law in Florida state that allows people to be detained for their own safety for mental health reasons.
Other states have similar laws that allow involuntary commitment for mental health reasons. These are sometimes called a 72-hour hold, although the length of stay varies among states.
What is the Marchman Act vs. the Baker Act? The Baker Act allows someone to be detained for treatment for mental health reasons while the Marchman Act allows involuntary commitment for substance abuse reasons.
According to UFHealth.org,
These states allow for involuntary commitment for mental health or substance abuse reasons:
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Other states have similar measures such as these:
- California – 5150 (72-hour hold)
- Pennsylvania – 302 (5-day hold)
- Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky – Casey’s Law
- New Jersey – Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)
- New York – Kendra’s Law
Click here to read more about involuntary commitment in your state.
In the case of a minor, parents have the right to make medical decisions in the best interest of the child, although it varies by state at what age teens can make their own medical decisions. Children are considered able to make their own medical decisions around puberty, starting at ages 12-14 years old.
What Happens to Children in Inpatient Treatment?
Inpatient treatment is most often meant to be a short-term solution to provide immediate care and crisis management. Some of the things that happen during inpatient treatment for children include:
- Psychiatric evaluation – A resident psychiatrist interviews the child (and often the parents) and makes a determination of diagnosis and treatment plan.
- Medication management and adjustments – Medications may be added, removed, or dosage may be adjusted to provide stabilization.
- Psychotherapy – The child will attend therapy individually, in a group, or both, to learn coping skills.
- Family therapy – The family may attend therapy together or the therapist may speak to parents separately.
- Social worker guidance to further help or community services – Since the length of stay is meant to be short, a social worker will guide the family to further resources, either longer-term residential treatment or community resources.
What is Inpatient Treatment Like for Children and Teens?
Children in an inpatient unit follow a structured routine for their days. They are supervised 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They eat meals, attend individual and group therapy and have recreation time such as outside play, video games, or TV and movie time. They may be in their own room or may share a room with another child or teen.
Some situations have a small school setting where children attend for a few hours of instruction per day.
Children in residential settings often are allowed to have their own personal items. In inpatient treatment, youth may bring a few things like clothing or a special blanket or stuffed animal, but most do not have many personal belongings. Belongings will be screened for safety concerns, such as removing ties from clothing. Do not send any items that are valuable since they may not be returned.
Can I Visit My Child in an Inpatient Treatment Program?
Most inpatient treatment allows visitors but there may be restrictions.
Visiting hours may be at a set time each day. Visits may be supervised and take place in a visiting room. Siblings may or may not be allowed to attend. Food may be brought to visits so that the family can share a meal or snack together.
Visits can be an emotional time for both the parent and child. Parents miss their child very much and are concerned about them, yet tensions are high. Bringing a snack, memento from home, or game to play together can help ease the tension.
During inpatient treatment, family is an vital source of support yet can also be a source of stress for a child who is trying to stabilize their mental health.
Phone calls with family members are typically allowed although they may be monitored due to the child’s mental stability.
What is the Cost of Inpatient Treatment?
Inpatient treatment typically costs $500-1,000 per day. Treatment is covered by insurance and Medicaid.
With these resources, you’ll be able to determine if your child needs inpatient treatment, how to find the best mental health treatment near you, and next steps to give your child the greatest possible chance for future success.
Do you have a question about inpatient treatment not addressed here? Share it in the comments below.
Has your child had inpatient treatment? Was it helpful? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
Click here for a free PDF printable checklist of the 7 steps to take when your child needs residential treatment.
More Helpful Posts to Navigate Children in Need of Care
How Do I Know if My Child Needs Residential Treatment?
Things to Know When Child Needs Inpatient Mental Health Care
Trying to find Residential treatment for my 11yr old daughter with depression, anxiety and ptsd..
What state are you in Heather?
I need help finding my daughter a good RTF. The one she was at is had to pull her from as she left when in their care and was missing for 36 hours. They had no sense of concern.
We are from New York but are willing to go to another state for the best care for our daughter.
Hi Samantha,
Where are you located in NY? What is her diagnosis?
My granddaughter has serious behavioral issues. She has tried to cut herself, tonight she has taken 11 Tylenol and called 911. They took her by ambulance to an emergency hospital but will probably release her. She is 14 we need immediate placement some where. Help!!!!
We live in Kentucky.
I’m so sorry this is happening for your granddaughter. You are doing the right things by getting her treatment. Hopefully the hospital will guide you to placement options before she is released. Here are a few options for resources in Kentucky – https://parentingstronger.com/therapeutic-boarding-schools-virginia-kentucky-maryland/ and #23-25 on this listing – https://parentingstronger.com/parent-reviews-residential-treatment-rad/
my 16 year old is out of control she has catfished people by using her friends info. very sexual explicit stuff like drawings, lying to the point she makes you believe things, harms herself, plays everyone against each other to get her way, she has told me that she has seen people and heard voices she has times that she can’t sleep or sleeps to much very risky behavior and is a run away, I’ve had her in ed multiple times for e Val no luck, cops evolved and state still no help, no she has left and I haven’t pushed the issue of bringing her home she’s not going to school and she’s creating a curious agin every one I have reached out to for help state and case workers don’t know what to tell me ,
I need to be pointed in a proper direction to deal with this and help my daughter I live in maine
I’m sorry for all your current struggles with your daughter. I know it’s very difficult. Here is a list of schools in Maine that might be helpful – https://parentingstronger.com/therapeutic-boarding-schools-vermont-maine-new-hampshire/
I desperately need assistance for help with my adopted son. He has always had behavioral issues he was placed with us as specialized care. He was 2 when he came to us.. was diagnosed with RAD, ODD AND ADHD. He bangs his head, is very defiant,, threatens his younger siblings
I suggest looking at one of the programs here – https://parentingstronger.com/reactive-attachment-disorder-treatment-centers/
If anyone is thinking about this course of action please reconsider and know that your decision could very well do so much more harm than good. My parents had me committed when I was a teen and over a decade later, I’m still struggling with the trauma of the experience. I could never seek help for it because ‘help’ is what caused said trauma in the first place. It didn’t teach me how to deal with the issues that I was struggling with, only internalize them and now it has destroyed my quality of life. I haven’t even spoken to my parents in years because of it and the last time I spoke to them, they gave that bogus, cliche “We were afraid of something happening and didn’t know what else to do to help” and I said “I didn’t need help, I needed space and I needed time. Was that really too much to ask for”?
Also allot of parents might say “well I’m preventing my child from taking their own life so it’s better that they’d be alive and hate me than be dead”. But this too is an oversimplification because if you or the mental health professionals were wrong about the danger, you can’t expect them to open up about thoughts of suicide they may have later down the road.
Hi, Anon. I’m a contributing writer here at CRT, for autistic topics, and wanted to add onto this.
Whilst residential treatment can be helpful, a lot of it doesn’t help. This acknowledgement is crucial. I’m in a similar boat, except I’m 31, almost 32. I’m in autistic burnout. I fell deeper into it because the side of the family I thought I was closest to criticized every single way I chose to recover because “that’s not normal!” I’ve since learned this side of the family is enmeshment and am healing from that, but ultimately…I lost my apartment 9 months into the lease and the aunt who said she’d always be there for me and catch me if I fell rejected me last minute because she said that I’d have to drop my boundaries.
She legit said, “You’re not allowed to be mad or get upset. You have to let me say what I want to say because it’s my house, my rules. I don’t want to hear about your boundaries or excuses because of your ‘disabilities’.”
She called my dad and showed screenshots of me saying I couldn’t work at a restaurant that served nuts because of my life-threatening nut allergy or drive long distances for work due to traffic + night risk (can’t drive at night), telling him I was “unwilling to cooperate”. I apologized for being a burden, and she said, “Then stop being one.”
Her adoptive mother, my grandmother, insisted that she would “come up there once you get settled in and take you to get medicated, because honey…you need it.” I asked, “Then why do I excel when I’m surrounded by people who love and accept me as I am instead of trying to change me? Why do I not struggle at all when I’m away from YOU?” to which she replied, “Well, I don’t know, but there must something wrong with them if they can’t see what’s wrong with you.”
In 2012, she tried to get me hospitalized. She listed every autistic trait she hated (no eye contact, not a big hugger, hates being touched, meltdowns, etc.), and the psychiatrist said, “She’s autistic. What did you expect? This behavior is really common in people whose boundaries are ignored, who feel like the people around them aren’t listening.” She had the audacity to go and say, “Okay, if you’re not going to listen to what I’m telling you, I’m gonna find someone who will.”
The irony here is that my aunt and grandmother have severe anxiety disorders. I used to think something was wrong with me, because I just don’t worry like that, but I do experience severe stress. I don’t worry so much that it makes me sick. I don’t try to make my anxiety stop — I just ride it out. They’ve told me, for my entire life, that that is abnormal and I need medication. The ironic bit: My psychiatrists have all told me that I don’t have anxiety, but anxiety is contagious and that my environment affects it.
In Texas, anyone can essentially get you hospitalized against your will. A therapist explained to me the risk that I’m in, so when I move back into my own place, I’m not going to let them know where I live.
All my life, the people who claim to love me have sought to fix me, encouraged me to mask my true self and insisted that I need help. I recently learned the term for this is factitious disorder imposed on another, which can affect the victim mentally so they truly do become in need of such help.
I’m adding my recent story onto this, because it’s important to consider WHY you are seeking residential treatment in the first place — especially for teens. At 30 years old, I helped my coworker/friend move out of her parents’ house right after she turned 18 because they wanted to send her away someplace because not only is she a lesbian, but she’s also dating a Black woman. At the time, we both lived in a conservative city where houses get marked for all kinds of ish, despite it being an uppity area. She still lives there, but she lives with her girlfriend and friends.
After she was raped by a guy she once called her best friend, her mother mistook her change in behavior for rebellion. I related greatly to my coworker/friend, because my mother took my uniqueness/not being like her for rebellion as well. In my family, being different is perceived as rebellion (because enmeshment). Never once did my friend’s mother ASK her because she operated on authoritarian parenting techniques.
Which brings me to my full-on point: Parents, why are you seeking residential treatment? What are your long-term goals here? I’m not against residential treatment when all other resources have been exhausted. If your parenting style is authoritarian, understand that your child’s behavior may be the result of your parenting. As a child and teen, I read dictionaries and psychology books for fun. These days, I read behavioral studies in hopes of understanding why some parents, and people in general, have so many control issues even in regard to people choosing to live their lives in their own ways.
Your child is their own person. Before you consider putting your child into a facility/group home setting, reflect on your own actions. Your intentions do not matter as much as the results of your actions (consequences). For every single choice you make with your child, there is a consequence. Are you willing to risk your future relationship with your child for this intention?
I’ve been through things worse than death. I don’t keep score, but my family does. I’m constantly reminded, at 31 years old, of what I did when I was 5, 7, 10, 13, etc. My maternal family — mother excluded, as we’ve been estranged since 2011 when my stepfather blamed ME for my mother’s suicide attempt as a result of HIS actions, and me reporting the domestic violence to her doctor resulted in her doctor telling them that I said they selling pills (instead of the husband throwing them away) — infantilizes me. Maybe my paternal family also does this; I don’t know anymore.
I never felt more unrelated to them than I do now, after their rejection. “Family is always there for you when you need them to be, because that’s love” didn’t hold up when I needed them the most…as someone who plans to adopt her child(ren), I’ve never been more disappointed in my family in my life. My child(ren) will not be raised to feel like a burden on me, but a blessing.
I have considered 1) a community specifically for autistic adults, but also considered creating my own with some tiny houses, or whatever. I’ve seen autistic adults since I started writing here in residential homes who find being surrounded by people who get you empowering.
At the end of the day, that’s what we need/want: to be surrounded by people who love, accept and support us and just let us be, instead of trying to fix us.
Consider inpatient mental health treatment if you must, but don’t throw your intentions at your children when they confront you about it. Don’t gaslight them. Just love them.
If my family would stop insisting that I need to “drop this trauma and move on”, and instead worked to empathize with me, perhaps I’d actually want them in my life. I know of three aging family members I will help if they need it. None of them are the ones who expect me to care for them when they’re older, who claim they love me and continue to hurt me. Love doesn’t hurt. (So if you do put them through it, accept the fact now that there may be negative consequences and accept this responsibility later. Being able to say, “I’m sorry. I made the wrong choice. How can we recover from this?” to your child speaks VOLUMES. It’s why I keep my dad in my life.)
Have a family with a 12 year old young lady that is self harming and mother has been fighting to get mental health services in Ohio but is being tried down in red tape. Has diagnosis of RAD but no agency will provide effective assistance. Has an IEP but it is not being honored so she has not been in school for weeks nor are any of the public schools willing to take her. Needs residential program but no one is willing to provide a diagnosis of Bipolar disorder and behavior has been written up as teenage child looking for attention. Need help to get her into an effective treatment program that will get her started on an effective treatment plan
My grandson is in need of residential help. He has been evaluated and determined to be severely autistic and I think other psychiatric problems. He is 6 yrs old, non verbal and not potty trained. Is there any help out there for him.
Help!!! Our 17 year old auristic son is currently having some severe psychiatric issues, and is not only violent to himself, but others. He’s been in the hospital for almost a week, and they have no answers. They keep trying to send him home, but he keeps trying to put his head through the walls or attacking staff members.
We currently live in California and are looking for a facility that he can stay in to at least get his meds regulated.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated
You made a good point that intentions don’t matter much once a person’s mental health has already been affected by certain actions. I’d like to find a good child therapy clinic soon because I’m thinking about getting professional help for my child soon. She seemed to have developed anxiety due to a bullying incident that happened to her months ago.