Who Gets Referred to the Residential Treatment Program?
There are a lot of factors that go into Residential Treatment Program admission. Youth must be referred to the program. They also must meet both financial and clinical criteria. Our Residential Treatment Program intake team helps you get started.
Clinical Criteria
Typically, we reserve the program for children and teens who:
- Are age 8–17 years
- Meet criteria for a diagnosed psychiatric illness based on DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition)
- Show patterns of severe impairment because of psychiatric illness
- Can respond to a structured behavioral program
- Will fit well with kids already in the program to ensure safety
Financial Criteria
Participants must have approved funding to join the program.
We accept standard health insurance. However, we have to make sure we are in network with your insurance provider and that they cover residential level of care. Often, standard health insurance and Medicaid don’t cover the cost of residential treatment.
If insurance denies coverage for residential services, most families need funding from a secondary source. Examples include Multi-System Youth (MSY), county agencies, or funds from Post Adoption Special Services Subsidy (PASSS) or Family and Children First Council (FCFC).
What to Expect
Know what to expect—starting with a referral all the way through treatment.
Referral Sent
We require a referral before youth can join the Residential Treatment Program. The provider or funding entity must complete the Residential Referral Form, which asks for clinical information about the child.
Our team uses the completed referral form to determine if the child can join the program. We will either request more details or deny the referral.
Contact us with any questions about the referral process. Call 513-636-0820 or email residential.referrals@cchmc.org.
Join the Waitlist
A child is ready to join the program if:
- They have been clinically accepted into the program.
- They have funding for the program. Note that the state funding process often takes 8–10 weeks.
- There is an open bed, and your child would be a good fit in the unit.
Some kids can start the program as soon as we approve their referral. Others must go on the waitlist. If your child joins the waitlist, we will let you know at least five days before we have a possible spot available.
We’ll communicate with you, so you understand everything you need to know about the program. That includes what to bring, what to leave at home and more details about what to expect.
Attend Intake
When your child is ready to start the program, we’ll schedule an intake visit. Intake is a meeting where we sign contracts and review paperwork. Your child also receives evaluations and a treatment plan that outlines what services they’ll receive.
After the intake process, your child starts the program the same day.
Complete Treatment
Residential treatment is designed to be a longer stay (four to six months) that ultimately gets your child back in the community. During the program, we work on different skills each day.
Treatment Types and Level of Care
Treatment helps youth develop self-awareness and self-esteem. The main approaches to treatment we use include Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Both are evidence-based therapies focused on regulating emotions, handling stress and being mindful.
Your child works with many different professionals in the program. Examples include board-certified psychiatrists, registered nurses, pharmacists, therapists and mental health specialists.
Our program follows specific guidelines for the level of care we provide as a:
- Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP)
- Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) (Coming in 2025)
Ancillary Services
Part of what makes our Residential Treatment Program unique is the additional (or ancillary) services we provide as part of treatment. Other specialists cater their services to our program participants. And because we’re in the Cincinnati Children’s network, it’s easy to access these services, which may include:
- Chaplain services: Offers spiritual or religious help to patients, families and staff. The chaplain leads group activities to help patients embrace their beliefs and values that are important to them. Chaplains also help patients deal with loss or change.
- Chemical dependence education: Supports those with a diagnosis of substance abuse or dependency when they are admitted. A chemical dependency counselor provides chemical dependency assessments, therapy sessions, education and discharge referrals.
- Music therapy: Focuses on emotional connection to music with help from music therapists. Patients practice healthy expression by discussing songs, singing, rapping, playing instruments and more.
- Occupational therapy: Engages participants in functional, age-appropriate tasks. These tasks increase independence with self-care, social skills, leisure activities, coping skills, cognition and sensory processing.
- School education: Offers educational services in a structured, safe environment. Staff include teachers from Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), and the format is like a traditional school schedule.
- Speech-language pathology: Evaluates and treats speech and language disorders. Speech-language pathologists help incorporate communication skills related to the overall psychiatric treatment.
- Therapeutic recreation: Improves health and well-being with leisure-based activities. Therapeutic recreation may involve group therapy, individual therapy and special events or outings. Some examples include fitness, horticulture therapy, community service and therapeutic play.
