ROSEVILLE, Minn. — Monday, Children's Minnesota welcomed a group of kids to a mental health day treatment program at a brand-new facility in Roseville. This new center, located at 2990 Centre Point Drive, is the second "partial hospitalization program" (PHP) the hospital has opened to serve kids during school hours, allowing children to go home to their families in the evening.
Jessica Brisbois, manager of acute mental health services at Children's Minnesota, said the opening of this center comes at a critical time.
"There’s a huge need for mental health services for our children and adolescents right now," Brisbois said. "There’s an ongoing crisis."
Research released in September by Clarify Health Institute found a 61% increase in children hospitalized for mental health reasons from 2016-2021.
"We need to be able to meet their needs in lots of different, creative ways. One of them is through this program," Brisbois said.
The center accepts kids ages 6-17, as well as 18-year-olds who are still enrolled in high school and under the care of an adult guardian. Three patient groups of roughly eight each, grouped by age, will attend daily therapeutic groups like art therapy, music therapy, talk therapy and physical wellness in a gym on-site.
Patients attend the program from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. They are partnering with the Mounds View School District to offer an hour of education to each patient group every day. In addition, a child's program therapist will reach out to their school directly and let their school know about the child's participation and anticipated length in the program and then sets up a plan to ease back into school.
Brisbois said the program runs similarly to an inpatient mental health unit, with nurses, therapists, and a psychiatrist. The program will prioritize children who are working on transitioning out of the Children's Minnesota inpatient program and welcome others who might just need extra resources.
"Sometimes there’s patients that don’t quite need 24/7 care, but once-a-week therapy really isn’t going to be enough to help resolve their mental health concerns," she said. "So coming through a program like this meets their needs and they can stay home with their families at night and not have to be in a hospital setting."
As a short-term crisis stabilization program, Brisbois says most patients stay between two to four weeks.
"Once they are done with the program, we set them up with additional services," she said, "so they do continue their mental health work, but we’re making sure they get through that initial crisis period."
Families and caregivers seeking treatment for their child can learn more about the Children's Minnesota PHP centers (both Roseville and Lakeville) here. Children's MN also encourages direct referrals from a child's physician or therapist.
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