Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTFs) provide out-of-home psychiatric residential treatment to children and adolescents whose mental health needs cannot be effectively and safely met in a community setting. These programs are intended to provide active treatment in a structured therapeutic environment for children and youth with significant functional impairments resulting from an identified mental health diagnosis, substance use diagnosis, sexual abuse disorders, and/or mental health diagnosis with co-occurring disorder (i.e., substance related disorders, intellectual/developmental disabilities, head injury, sexual misuse disorders, or other disabilities which may require stabilization of mental health issues).
The residential treatment facility is expected to work actively with the family and other agencies to offer strengths-based, culturally competent, trauma-informed, medically appropriate treatment designed to meet the individual needs of the residents.
PRTF services are included in the Medicaid State Plan, and therefore, can be accessed by all children who are receiving Medicaid benefits including non-custody youth and those served by KDOC-JS, if they meet the screening criteria for accessing this service. Services are accessed by contacting the child’s Managed Care Organization (MCO) and requesting a screening for admission. The MCO makes all decisions regarding eligibility for admission and discharge. Once eligibility is determined, the PRTF’s shall be contacted for admission availability and acceptance.
For information regarding children who are placed in a PRTF from another state, refer to PPM Section 9000.