Where can parents turn when regular outpatient care isn’t providing enough support, and residential treatment isn’t required for children and teenagers with mental health concerns?
Intensive rehabilitative mental health services (IRMHS) programs in Minnesota offer a team-based level of care. This model helps young people stay in their home and community while still providing consistent, comprehensive support for active recovery. Previously known as Youth Assertive Community Treatment, IRMHS combines clinical treatment, practical skills development, crisis support, and care coordination.
This article will cover what intensive rehabilitative mental health services are, along with:
Intensive rehabilitative mental health services describes the state of Minnesota’s team-based model for supporting young people with serious mental illnesses, without requiring them to live away from home.[1][2]
The program, previously known as Youth Assertive Community Treatment (Youth ACT), provides teenagers with a multidisciplinary team that coordinates each aspect of their care. The IRMHS program usually includes:
IRMHS Minnesota providers must ensure that participants can access crisis intervention services 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Young people can experience a crisis at any time, so rapid response and support can help prevent escalation and hospitalization.
These treatments and supports can take place wherever a young person spends their time:
A vital part of the program involves keeping treatment connected to a young person’s daily life. Providing the intensive mental health services teens may need in the communities where they live helps keep them connected to their existing support systems.
IRMHS eligibility in Minnesota depends on a youth’s specific age, diagnosis, and level of need.
To qualify for the program, a young person must be at least eight years of age and under 21. They must have a diagnosis of a serious mental illness or a co-occurring mental health disorder and a substance use disorder.[3]
Eligibility also requires a functional assessment and a recent diagnostic assessment documenting that IRMHS is medically necessary.[3]
Furthermore, there must be a formal level of care assessment, which utilizes screening measures to demonstrate a need for intensive and integrated interventions while showing that the young person doesn’t require 24-hour monitoring.[4]
In other words, this means that a young person’s needs must be serious enough to warrant more than standard outpatient-based care, but not so serious that they require hospitalization or a stay in residential-based treatment.
Potential eligibility also looks at a young person’s documented history and ability to function day-to-day. This usually includes information from how they behave and interact at home, at school, or in the community, along with the likelihood of ongoing mental health support needs into adulthood.
Altogether, these criteria for serious mental illness youth support in Minnesota are designed to capture an accurate picture of their needs early enough to prevent a more restrictive placement (such as an adolescent rehabilitation mental health placement) down the road.
Youth-intensive community mental health care works to coordinate every part of their care via one integrated team. The core idea is engagement — traditional, office-based services can sometimes be a challenge for young people to engage with, especially for those with complex and severe symptoms.
Youth ACT Minnesota teams travel to the young person, meeting them wherever they are to provide oversight and support for the stabilization and recovery process. This helps to bring all the necessary support and treatment providers to where the young person is, and can also cut down on care coordination needs for the family.
This model of care isn’t new. One review of assertive community treatment models found that such an approach can reduce the severity of psychiatric symptoms and improve overall functioning for young people.[5]
Additionally, more recent research on similar models to IRMHS has found measurable gains in social functioning and personal recovery over time after program participation.[6]
So what does a typical day in treatment look like?
Youth ACT Minnesota participants engage in a wide range of services in their treatment plan, adjusting based on their needs and growth over time.
An IRMHS team usually provides:
Mission Prep is here to help you or your loved one take the next steps towards an improved mental well-being.
Comparing IRMHS vs. residential treatment comes down to asking if a young person needs round-the-clock supervision, or can remain safely at home with intensive support.
IRMHS is entirely non-residential. Youths receiving services remain at home and attend school, receiving services in the community directly in those settings. Residential treatment, on the other hand, removes a young person from their daily life and provides them with 24-hour supervision in a live-in setting.
Keeping a young person in their existing environment allows for the treatment team to address real-world triggers and relationship challenges as they happen. Research on Youth ACT models has found promising indications of reductions in the frequency and duration of psychiatric hospital admissions.
On the whole, IRMHS tends to be the best fit when a young person can remain safe at home while still meeting the admission criteria for their age and mental health status.
Residential treatment might be more appropriate if there are major safety concerns, severe symptoms, or a lack of stable support at home. IRMHS teams can work with youth transitioning out of residential care, helping them make the step down to more community-based treatment as well.
A mental health professional, care coordinator, or health plan can help families navigate the Minnesota youth behavioral health system and identify certified IRMHS providers.
Getting a young person or teenager connected to IRMHS services begins with a referral from someone, either a family member or a professional. This will lead to a formal assessment to determine if they meet the full criteria for IRMHS treatment or would be better served by another level of care for their needs.
Programs that offer IRMHS must be certified by the state’s Department of Human Services and maintain a multidisciplinary team that meets state staffing requirements to participate. Parents or guardians can ask a referring provider for help in identifying a certified IRMHS provider in their county.
Coverage for the program is usually provided via Minnesota Health Care Programs, including Medical Assistance, for qualified participants. If a young person receives their Medical Assistance via a state-contracted health plan, the plan provider is also required to cover IRMHS as part of their mental health benefits.
It can help a lot to know what questions to ask to move through the process as easily as possible. Helpful questions to ask include:
Reaching out early, even before a crisis situation takes place, can make for a smoother transition.
Take a tour of our teen residential mental health facilities located in Minnetonka, MN. Our locations offer peace & comfort within a residential environment where teenagers, aged 12-17, can relax and focus on themselves.
Our well-appointed facilities are located in on the west side of the Metro area and serve teens from across Minnesota.
IRMHS can be a valuable resource for many Minnesota families, but it’s not the right fit for every situation. Some teens’ safety and symptom severity might need more structure than an in-home setup can provide — and not all teens will qualify for program admission to IRMHS.
At Mission Prep Teen Treatment, we offer personalized treatment programs, coordinating care with academic support and family development. We incorporate evidence-based therapeutic approaches and holistic support for teens struggling with their mental health, planning for the long term with our collaborative treatment plans.
Our Minnesota locations are an important part of the treatment process. We maintain modern and welcoming homes where teens are able to develop and practice strategies that help lay the foundation for sustainable healing.
Mission Prep Teen Treatment accepts insurance and is in-network with most major providers. We are happy to help you check your insurance coverage for mental health care.
If your child has tried outpatient therapy without making progress, or if safety concerns make remaining in the home difficult, we’re here to help. Learn more about our admissions process online or call 866-901-4047 to speak with a caring member of our team who can answer any questions you might have. Reach out for a free, no-obligation conversation.
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Choosing the right level of mental health support often means asking questions about eligibility, timing, and how IRMHS coordinates with other services. The answers below address some common questions families may have about the program.
No — IRMHS services are for preventing hospitalizations or residential placements and helping a young person step down from inpatient care after they’ve completed it. A teen can qualify for services without any prior hospitalizations, so long as they meet the diagnostic and level-of-care criteria otherwise.[3]
IRMHS duration depends on the person’s continuing eligibility and treatment needs. Level-of-care and functional assessments are updated every six months. IRMHS can remain in place as long as a young person continues meeting program criteria, depending on their needs.
Typically, IRMHS teams coordinate the participant’s mental health services. An existing therapist may participate as an additional team member. Families should discuss any existing outside providers directly with the team to determine how care will be delivered.
Are You Covered for Mental Health Treatment?
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Find out if Mission Prep is right for you by reaching out to us and speaking with one of our admissions representatives.
