Finding residential treatment for adolescents suffering from addiction is difficult.

According to the National Institutes of Health,

Access to residential addiction treatment centers caring for U.S. adolescents under 18 years old in the United States is limited and costly, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health.  Researchers found that only about half (54%) of the residential addiction treatment facilities that they contacted had a bed immediately available, and for those that had a waitlist, the average estimated time before a bed opened was 28 days.  In addition, the average daily cost per day of treatment was $878, with close to half (48%) of the facilities that provided information requiring partial or full payment upfront.  On average, the quoted cost of a month’s stay at a residential addiction treatment facility was over $26,000.

The challenge is even greater for those insured by Medicaid, with the study finding that “… just seven states had a facility that accepted Medicaid, had a bed open the same day, and offered buprenorphine” – which in turn is an even greater challenge for community safety-net hospitals because so many of their patients are covered by Medicaid.

Learn more about the challenges families face in when seeking residential treatment to help adolescents fight their addictions from this NIH news release and the Health Affairs article “Adolescent Residential Addiction Treatment In The US: Uneven Access, Waitlists, And High Costs.”