Eligible juveniles who are in the custody of the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services or the juvenile justice system and require “complex mental and behavioral health care” can now receive inpatient treatment in Owensboro, the Department of Health and Family Services announced Tuesday.
The 10-bed inpatient program, called “BIRCH,” is operated at River Valley Behavioral Health's Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital. The program accepts males ages 12-17 from DCBS or “dual incarcerated” males from the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).
The hospital has already received its first patients following an opening ceremony on Tuesday, according to the cabinet.
River Valley President and CEO Wanda Figueroa Peralta said in a statement that the program marks “a major step forward in caring for and supporting our most vulnerable young people.”
“This program reflects our commitment to providing the highest level of care to those who need it most and ensuring all young people have the opportunity to heal, grow and thrive,” Figueroa Peralta said.
According to the cabinet, the program is targeted at “young people with a history of challenging behavior related to mental illness,” and staff expect children to remain in the program “for a longer period than would be the case in a typical inpatient acute psychiatric hospital.”
Admission decisions are made by the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (BHDID), the Director of Mental Health Treatment at the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Medicaid Services, the Department of Community-Based Services and the River Valley Behavioral Health Authority, the cabinet said.
According to the Cabinet, funding for BIRCH comes from a contract between DCBS and the Department of Medicaid Services (DMS).
The announcement came days after Republican Sen. Danny Carroll of Western Kentucky criticized his fellow lawmakers for not funding specialized mental health facilities for young people in the juvenile justice system during the 2024 legislative session.
Carroll, a Benton Republican, introduced Senate Bill 242 this year, which would have directed Kentucky to spend $22 million to build a special mental health juvenile detention center and create a process to screen and treat minors with serious mental illnesses within DJJ. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House.
Commenting on the opening of Birch, Ms Carroll said: “Increasing the number of beds available to help troubled young people is a step in the right direction.”
“This progress is the result of intense and very productive discussions that involved all stakeholders during the last session,” Carroll said in a statement to The Lantern. “I look forward to the Legislature finalizing the mental health proposal for troubled youth (Senate Bill 242) in the future.”
