NASHP Details State Strategies for Youth Behavioral Health Transitions
In a brief, NASHP outlines strategies states are using to help children and youth move from residential or inpatient behavioral health treatment back into community-based care. The brief notes over 20 percent of youth ages 3-17 have a diagnosed behavioral health condition, and nearly 1 in 4 families with treatment needs report unmet care due to access barriers, often leading to crisis-driven emergency and residential placements. It identifies three main policy levers states are pursuing: targeted services to coordinate transitions, expanded step-down levels of care, and stronger discharge planning standards for residential and inpatient facilities. The brief highlights that Medicaid policy, including the Psych under 21 benefit, shapes how states finance psychiatric residential treatment facilities, qualified residential treatment providers, and other inpatient settings, and that poor transition supports drive prolonged stays, readmissions, and higher costs.