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The Oklahoma Youth Center is a resource for families experiencing pain and dysfunction due to a child's emotional disturbance and is a partner with community-based service providers in establishing a continuum of mental health care. A child's development to adulthood involves passage through a series of physical, intellectual, and emotional stages. Most children gain skills and independence as they move through these stages, but for some, progress is halted by serious emotional disturbance. These youngsters need caregivers who understand mental health problems in children and adolescents and are able to provide appropriate, individualized treatment. Oklahoma's mental health system supports a wide range of services for children with serious emotional disturbance. Many publicly funded, community-based programs offer intervention, assessment, and outpatient counseling. The Oklahoma Youth Center, however, is the only state-operated facility in Oklahoma providing inpatient services for boys and girls under age 18. It serves children and adolescents from all of Oklahoma's 77 counties. Each Oklahoma Youth Center client is the focus of a holistic treatment approach that helps the child restore healthy relationships with family and peers, attain the age-appropriate level of functioning, and make developmental progress. Multi-disciplinary teams, typically encompassing psychiatry, psychology, social work, recreational therapy, and nursing, plan and implement treatment services tailored to each client's needs. Because children need to continue their progress in school even while in treatment, educational sessions are provided on site by Norman Public Schools teachers specially trained in the needs of students with serious emotional disturbance. And because family members can be key participants in the recovery process, treatment teams encourage family participation to the fullest extent possible. Admission Criteria Inpatient services are warranted only when the child's illness puts him or her at risk of self harm, poses a risk to the safety of others, causes unprovoked aggressive behavior, or severely compromises the child's functional ability. These criteria are defined in detail in Oklahoma Statutes. The Oklahoma Youth Center accepts admissions of children aged 5 through 17 who meet the statutory definition of "a child in need of inpatient mental health treatment." Program Descriptions Acute Care Program. Services in the acute care program are designed to stabilize the condition of a child in crisis due to emotional disturbance. A physician may prescribe medication, if appropriate, coupled with other intensive interventions and close supervision. Treatment in the acute care program is relatively short-term, and is determined by the individual child's symptoms, needs, and treatment progress. Residential Treatment. Children who exhibit a pattern of escalating symptoms over time may require longer-term therapy in a residential program. The Oklahoma Youth Center's residential treatment program provides intensive, structured activities that integrate group and individual therapy, education, and therapeutic recreation. Referral to Community Treatment The client's treatment team works to establish links between the client's family and community-based mental health programs that can continue treatment and support when hospitalization is no longer necessary. Quality Assurance The Oklahoma Youth Center is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, indicating that its programs meet or exceed accepted quality standards for health, safety, and program performance. Cost of Services The Oklahoma Youth Center is a publicly funded program operated by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Some clients, depending on family size, income, and insurance status, qualify for services at no charge. A representative of the Center discusses these factors with the client's family and explains whether fees can be waived. No client is refused service due to inability to pay. How to Contact Us To make a referral, discuss an admission, or request additional information about Oklahoma Youth Center services, call 405-364-9004, or write: Oklahoma Youth Center 320 Twelfth Avenue, N.E. Norman, OK 73071   Updated June 2002

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