Residential treatment for children appears to be a bit of a black box. The recent report – Addressing Appropriate Access To Residential Behavioral Health Treatment For Children In Medicaid – identified both lack of definition and lack of data as challenges to policy.

In fiscal year 2026, the U.S. had 376 psychiatric residential treatment facilities in 36 states, while 14 states had none. There is little data on the use of that capacity.

A 2018 analysis found that roughly 4% of children age 0 to 18 had a claim for residential services (see Examining Children’s Behavioral Health Service Use & Expenditures 2005-2011). A 2019 claims analysis found that less than 0.1% of children ages 3 to 17…