CERTS: Residential Treatment Programs For Teens

Residential treatment is a level of care that combines 24/7 support staff, individual therapy, group therapy, and education. It is ideal for the young person who is making poor choices, is engaged in dangerous behaviors (e.g. cutting, eating disordered behaviors, drug or alcohol abuse, etc.) and/or who needs a high level of support for mental or behavioral issues. By contrast, acute care (hospital setting) is a higher level of care (typically for suicidal or extreme out of control states and shorter term) and therapeutic boarding (less therapy, less supervision, and longer term) is a lower level of care.

CERTS residential treatment programs are more clinically rich than most programs for two reasons: first, we believe it gives us a better chance of getting at the core issues which drive behavior, thereby increasing the odds of your teen truly healing and making better choices in the future; second, we believe it also shortens the average length of stay, saving everyone money. Incidentally, we use the word “rich” to answer this question about our residential treatment centers instead of “intensive” because of the types of therapies used by our therapists. Healing can be rewarding and often even fun!

Lots! Throughout the CERTS Programs, our clinicians use a variety of therapeutic modalities  For example, Art therapy is a mainstay at La Europa Academy. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a useful therapeutic approach for teens struggling with emotional regulation and is used at all the CERTS residential treatment programs. Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP or “horse therapy”) is a powerful way of reaching and teaching students with a variety of issues and is used at both Kolob Canyon RTC and Moonridge Academy. Adventure therapy and a wide variety of experiential therapy approaches (including sand tray therapy) is freely intermingled in order to reach our students in the ways that work best for them at all of our programs. Moonridge Academy uses play therapy in ways that are impactful for the younger average age in that program. And all of the programs use traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (talk therapy) in many of the individual therapy sessions. Many of our clinicians are trained and certified in trauma focused therapies including EMDR and Brainspotting.  

CERTS believes there are two keys (at least!) to clinical success: having lots of therapy “tools in the tool belt” AND having the flexibility to use whichever one the therapist feels is best suited at that time. The first explains the wealth of clinical therapeutic options above. Then therapists in CERTS programs are encouraged to do whatever will be most impactful for the teen, meeting them where they are at to best address their clinical and mental health needs. 

Yes, parents and families are extensively involved in our residential treatment facilities. We believe that failure to heavily involve the family system would set up many of our teens to relapse when returning home. The vast majority of our parents are excellent parents. While not perfect, they have generally parented the best they know how. 

The only person who can guarantee change is your teen. We are quite good at setting the table in a way that is inviting for them to come and dine. Usually over a fairly short period of time the depth of your teen’s relationship with our caring staff and an expert therapeutic team causes this to shift inside, allowing them to embrace change.

One of the best “guarantees” of success is parents and family systems that are open to change. Parents that are willing to do the homework and look at themselves and their family system openly and honestly do more to predict successful outcomes than just about anything else.

The average length of stay in our residential programs is nine to eleven months. Obviously this will vary from student to student depending upon the depth of clinical need and their particular situation.  We have had some students complete our programs in less than 9 months and others who have needed longer than a year to address their clinical challenges.  

Although the CERTS Programs, Kolob Canyon, La Europa Academy, Moonridge Academy, and Mountain Springs Preparatory Academy, work with a broad range of emotional struggles and diagnoses, we always do our best to ensure that our students receive the support they need. We look at each student on an individual basis to ensure they are clinically appropriate for residential treatment. Between the respective treatment programs, there are additional factors that might make one program more suitable than another.

Yes, all CERTS residential treatment facilities are approved by the Dept. of Homeland Security to take international students on a student visa. You don't have to be from Utah to apply, all students are welcome whether they are from the United States or live in another country.

While the process varies from family to family, there are certain things we always recommend to families to help them make an informed decision:

1. Call our CERTS admissions counselor at 888-406-5968. A counselor can help you understand not only what type of teen does best at a residential treatment center, but just as importantly, who is not appropriate for one of our programs.
2. Your child will undergo a screening process, including a review of their psychological evaluation, IEP/504 Plan, medical records, and conversations with previous therapists, to assess their suitability for our treatment program.
3. If your child is approved to enroll, we would then encourage you to come tour our campus and meet our team in person. If you are unable to travel to meet us in person, we are happy to accommodate a tour virtually via video chat.
4. Many of our alumni families have waived their right to confidentiality and will discuss their experience with you. You will find their stories inspiring and insightful into what their journey was like for them.
5. If you decide that a CERTS program is appropriate for your situation, we will ask you to fill out the application, you will need to receive a link from our admissions team.
6. You will be provided with a packing list and our admission checklist that includes items and documentation required by the state of Utah.
7. You will be provided with a Service Contract to review and sign.  

New students are admitted as beds become available. While historically CERTS residential treatment programs run full with a waiting list, there is also a seasonal element as well, with certain times of the year when beds are available without delay. These beds are always first-come, first-serve as long as all criteria for admission is met.

Coverage of residential treatment is now mandated by most state and federal laws. Most insurance companies require pre-authorization. They will pre-authorize if they consider a treatment program medically necessary. If an insurance company authorizes coverage, they typically do so in 3-7 day increments. After this initial period, the insurance company will request additional clinical information to authorize additional days. Once an insurance company determines that a student no longer meets their definition of medical necessity, it is likely they will deny authorization for the full daily rate of residential treatment. When the insurance company will no longer authorize the daily rate, some insurance companies will continue to pay for individual, family, and group therapy sessions. If a denial occurs at any stage of your claims, the insurance billing company will attempt to assist you with an appeal. Because the CERTS Programs are not a provider on any insurance, most insurance companies might reimburse at an out-of-network percentage of our posted daily rate.

We work with our third-party insurance billing company. This company will provide all insurance services including authorizations, utilization reviews, and billing for all authorized days to your insurance carrier. If a denial occurs at any stage, the insurance advocacy company can also assist in an appeal if you choose to do so. If eligibility for residential treatment is established, you should provide all needed information as promptly as possible and work closely with our billing company throughout the process. CERTS Group will make our clinical records available to assist them in the process of continuing authorization, utilization review, and submitting claims.

Every insurance plan is different. It is important to familiarize yourself with your plan and the exclusionary criteria. Once an insurance carrier will no longer authorize the daily rate, our insurance billing company can continue to submit claims for individual, family, and group therapy sessions.  We do have families who receive benefits for their child’s care but it takes time and diligence. Our Clinical team strives to provide the necessary documentation to potentially defeat insurance denial. Getting insurance funds is a team effort!