Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) Admissions
Louisiana Methodist Children's Home, in Ruston, and Methodist Children's Home of Southwest Louisiana, in Sulphur, are Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities providing intensive levels of residential treatment services. Most children do not require PRTF services. In fact, other levels of care such as Treatment Group Homes, Non-medical Group Homes, Home-based services or community-based family therapy may be more appropriate for you and your child. If so, we are happy to help direct you to sources of information for further assistance.
Choosing Out-of-Home Care for a Child is Difficult
We know placing a child in a residential treatment facility is a difficult experience for families. Our approach to residential care is family-centered. We include families in the care process from admission to discharge. We want you to be actively involved in your child's out-of-home experience. Your active participation is one of the strongest predictors of success!
If your child can benefit from intensive residential care, we want to help your family navigate the stress it will cause. You may call our Director of Admissions, Director of Nursing, Chief Financial Officer, your child's Therapist and your Family Therapist when you have questions, concerns or wish to receive information about your child.
If you have questions about admissions, please contact Mr. Phillip McMillan, Director of Admissions, at (318) 255-5020.
Geographical Area Served
Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services maintains three residential treatment centers capable of accommodating 128 children who may be admitted from across the state of Louisiana and the nation. These residential facilities are located at the top, heel and toe of Louisiana's boot-shaped geography. Louisiana Methodist Children's Home in Ruston offers 84 beds, Methodist Home for Children of Greater New Orleans in Mandeville provides 20 beds, and Methodist Children's Home of Southwest Louisiana in Sulphur has 24 beds.
A child's closeness to family is an important consideration in out-of-home care. We know active participation by family is a primary lead indicator of success in treatment. Consequently, unless specific treatment needs require placement in a particular program, efforts are made to encourage placement into the facility closest to a child's family.
PRTF Admission Application
If you do wish to make application for admission into PRTF services for your child, please complete the PRTF Application Materials provided below. You must also gather and provide the required supporting documents. After you have completed the PRTF Admission Application and have gathered the supporting documents, please mail or FAX them to Phillip McMillan, our Director of Admissions.
Please note, we cannot make a decision about admitting your child until we have reviewed all the PRTF Application Materials to ensure PRTF is the proper level of care for your child.
PRTF Application Materials
- LUMCFS PRTF Application FAX Cover Sheet
- PRTF Application and Admission Assessment Form
- Psychological Evaluation
- Child's Immunization Record
- Child's Health Report
- Clinical Assessments
- Educational Records (IEP or 504 Plan if applicable)
- Discharge Summaries from previous treatment programs
Your application may be reviewed prior to a Certificate of Need (CON) being obtained. However, a Certificate of Need must be obtained prior to final approval for admission.
- Fully executed, unexpired Certificate of Need (CON)
Admission Appointments and Referral Sources
Admissions into PRTF services are by appointment only and are scheduled Monday through Thursday, between 9 AM and 4 PM. There are no emergency admissions into PRTF services. Referrals are most often received from professionals and agencies such as physicians, licensed mental health professionals, the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Health and Hospitals, state and priviate psychiatric hospitals, Louisiana's Coordinated System of Care, Wraparound Agencies, Office of Juvenile Justice, and public and private insurance companies.
Admissions Address and FAX
Please mail your completed application with the required supporting documents to:
Director of Admissions
Louisiana Methodist Children's Home
904 DeVille Lane
Ruston, LA 71270
You may also submit your completed PRTF Application Materials by FAX: 1 (318) 242-4719
Who is Eligible for Intensive Residential Care?
We provide intensive residential service to children ages 12 to 17 with severe behavioral, emotional, and/or family disturbances. We admit youth for assessment and intensive services. Examples of reasons our services may be appropriate are as follows:
- Adjustment problems related to the family, communication difficulties, lack of respect for rights of others, running away, persistent lying, stealing within the home, argumentative, non-compliant behaviors, physically aggressive, lack of emotional bonding, or violations of family rules.
- Problems related to personal and emotional functioning, poor self-esteem, impulsivity, inadequate judgment-making skills, low frustration tolerance, depression and temper outbursts.
- Problems functioning within the community and social relationships, stealing, vandalism, difficulty in maintaining peer relationships, sexual promiscuity, acting out or aggression.
- Educational difficulties related to disruptive or delinquent behaviors, poor academic performance, or exhibiting mild to moderate learning disabilities.
Admission Criteria
PRTF services are appropriate for males and females, 11 to 17 years of age at time of admission, for whom a Certificate of Need specifies that:
- ambulatory care resources available in the child's community do not meet his or her treatment needs;
- proper treatment of the child's psychiatric condition requires services on an inpatient basis under the direction of a physician; and
- the services can reasonably be expected to improve the child's condition or prevent further regression so that the services will no longer be needed.
Exclusionary criteria include but may not be limited to:
- Severe psychiatric disorders or psychosis requiring hospitalization,
- Actively suicidal or homicidal,
- Chemical dependency requiring detoxification or substance abuse treatment,
- Physical or medical conditions which require skilled nursing services,
- Significant impairments resulting from organic brain disorders or traumatic brain injury which prohibit full participation in a residential program,
- Chronic violence (including sexually aggressive behaviors) which are incompatible with a group living environment,
- Intellectual challenges as indicated by psychological testing and/or clinical judgment.
What are the Broad Treatment Goals?
Foundational for our ministries to children and families, and in keeping with our mission, values, beliefs and treatment philosophy, we have established the following broad treatment goals:
- To provide quality, assessment-based residential treatment services for the youth placed in our care.
- To provide an interdisciplinary therapeutic approach that includes all systems involved with the child and family.
- To provide a caring, comfortable, safe, secure, nurturing, and age-appropriate environment for the youth in care.
- To provide varied resources and opportunities to address the unique needs and gifts of the youth in care.
- To provide quality educational and experiential opportunities for the youth in care to facilitate the acquisition of developmentally appropriate skills and information.
- To prepare the youth we serve to function productively in a less restrictive environment, with their families or in some other appropriate setting.
- To implement evidence-informed treatment modalities in residential, home and community-based services.
CARE
Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services began implementing the CARE milieu model in 2011 by initiating a three year, agency-wide implementation process for each of our residential sites. The Child and Adolescent Residential Experiences (CARE) milieu model is a research-based model developed by Cornell University for providing high quality out of home care for youth. The six core principles include being developmentally focused, family involved, trauma informed, competence centered, relationship based, and ecologically oriented.
In order for youth to be prepared to work through the difficulties in their lives, they must feel safe and cared for. These principles guide our treatment staff in meeting the youth at their developmental and competence levels, helping them find strengths and successes. They also guide staff in considering the trauma residents have experienced in their lives and the effects of these traumas on their current behavior.
Our staff seek to develop relationships designed to help residents feel safe and secure enough to work on the issues that have contributed to their difficulties. Within the broader milieu context, our ultimate goal is to help our youth evaluate and change their beliefs about themselves and others that are damaging or not helpful for them.
Treatment Services Provided
Changing beliefs and actions are the goals of the Cognitive Behavioral Models of counseling and psychotherapy. Examples of the various evidence-based models that LUMCFS clinicians have been trained to use include Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Most clinicians can also use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) effectively with traumatized youth, helping them to process the memories and associated beliefs and feelings that are often powerfully affecting their current functioning.
Because no single treatment model or intervention will fit every treatment need for every client, we believe in training our therapists in several proven methods. Our purpose is to help clinicians fit the treatment method to the individual client. In addition to individual and group therapy, we have licensed marriage and family therapists who provide services to our residents' parents and families. Active participation by family is a primary lead indicator of success in treatment.
Specific forms of therapeutic interventions and services for a resident may include individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, play therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, recreational therapy, treatment for maladaptive sexual behaviors, case management and care coordination, chemical dependency assessment, anger management work, grief and loss work, animal-assisted therapy, vocational and career training, training and assistance in activities of daily living (ADLs), challenge course work, and equine-assisted psychotherapy.
In addition to the broader milieu and individualized therapeutic interventions which are designed to meet each resident’s unique needs (and are detailed in each resident’s individual Plan of Care), a full array of services are provided to residents including pastoral care, education, recreation, socialization, medical care, vocational training, transitional skills training, daily living supervision and other specialty services.
Learn More About Our Ministries to Children and Families
Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services is a leading provider of behavioral health services for children and families. We have ministered to Louisiana's children and families for 126 years. Learn more about the broad array of treatment services we provide to children and families across Louisiana by visiting our corporate web site at LMCH.org.
Our Mission and Vision
Mission: Guiding Children and Families Home to Experience God's Love by Following the Teachings of Christ.
Vision: Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services, Inc. seeks to minister to the diverse needs of children and families by offering a variety of services that promote personal growth and wholesome family life. Our care is patterned after the example of Jesus who ministered to the total person so that each individual might experience the wholeness that comes through the reconciling love of God.
Our Philosophy of Care
We seek to restore wholeness and facilitate reconciliation in the lives of the families and children we serve. We are driven by our mission, vision and values, and our knowledge of the children and families we serve.
Dignity, Respect and Privacy
We treat all residents, clients and families with dignity, respect, and privacy in every element of care and treatment.
Individualized Assessment, Planning and Treatment
We provide individualized assessment, treatment planning and services designed to meet the unique assessed needs of those for whom we care.
Holistic Care
We provide all residents, clients and families with holistic care which addresses their physical, emotional, behavioral and spiritual needs.
Nurturing Care Environments
We seek to create nurturing, caring, supportive, safe, secure, and stable treatment environments to enhance opportunities for change and growth.
Louisiana United Methodist Children and Family Services provides care for children and families without regard to sex, race, creed, national origin, disability, or religious preference.