Residential Boarding Schools or R.T.C.’s are sometimes eligible for insurance coverage. Some insurance companies will pay for placement in an R.T.C.; when they may refuse to pay for a specialty school. If they do pay, the facility will usually need to be approved from an organization known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or JCAHO. JCAHO approved facilities have more requirements that need to be met than an R.T.C. facility. Usually an insurance company will pay for around 30 or 60 days in a R.T.C. type facility, but usually only if it is JCAHO approved.

This sometimes is more like a vacation for the teen. The other drawback is the fact that it is short term. Short term is typically not adequate to help make lasting changes in a teen¹s life. If you are considering placement in an R.T.C. you should usually plan on following it up with a long term, follow up placement. This type of placement is usually necessary if the teen has serious substance abuse issues and will need a de-tox period. Residential Treatment Centers are typically more of a medical or clinical type placement rather than a boarding school placement. There are R.T.C.¹s however that include education, and behavior modification as part of their milieu.

Another option for parents is known as a Therapeutic Boarding School, these are similar to Residential Treatment Centers. They usually offer behavior modification with the additional benefit of therapy. This type of placement is beneficial for a child that is in need of more than just behavior modification. It is also good for a child that may have unresolved issues, that will eventually need to be dealt with. In some cases the negative behavior is the teen’s way of hiding underlying issues. Once they begin to open up it is good to have professional staff available to help them sort through their feelings, and learn how to redirect their anger.

The extent of therapy available varies from program to program, some offer it as a part of their program and others offer it at an additional charge. Some programs offer it on a daily basis and others only once a week. Usually if a school has individual therapy they also have group therapy sessions. This helps the teen feel support from others in the group that have similar issues. Sometimes they are even confronted by their peers when they may be in denial that they really have a problem. Teens will usually respond more favorably to peer criticism than to coming from an adult so this has proven to be very effective in many programs. The typical Therapeutic Boarding School will also have a structured education program in place to help the teen progress academically while they are away from home. This seems to help with self esteem issues and helps make for an easier transition when returning home.