Major expansion will open Hazelden's doors to more young people

A $30 million expansion and renovation project at its 30-year-old youth campus in Plymouth, Minn., will make it possible for Hazelden to help many more young people and their families find freedom from addiction.

"The demand for Hazelden's quality of care is extremely great--so great, in fact, that we often need to refer families to other organizations because we're at capacity or don't offer the necessary level of care," says Jim Steinhagen, executive director of Hazelden's youth continuum. "Families come to us in crisis; they need help and they can't wait."

Specialized Care

Hazelden's Center for Youth and Families specializes in addiction treatment for young people ages 14 to 25, as well as expert services for parents and siblings. The campus currently has a total of 75 beds. New construction will add 32 beds in a new unit designed as a counterpart to the Women's Recovery Center on Hazelden's Center City campus, which was built in 2006.

In addition to more primary care beds, the youth campus expansion will allow Hazelden to provide longer-term treatment for young women. Extended care programming of up to three additional months has only been available on site for male patients. Young women likewise in need of extended treatment experience a disruption in care.

"Offering an extended care option for young women is much-needed and long overdue," Steinhagen says. "Parents want their daughters to continue on with care at Hazelden, where they saw their child's life turn around. Changing over to a new care provider can be difficult and unsettling for the patient and family."

The construction and renovation project is expected to take 24 months, with groundbreaking scheduled before the snow flies this fall. Key features of the project include:

• construction of a 32-bed unit for female patients, including primary care and extended care beds
• the addition of an indoor recreation space, including a gym and exercise room
• a redesigned, more welcoming entrance and admission area
• dedicated, state-of-the-art space for school, music and art therapy as well as family programs and mental health services

A Center for Excellence

Young people who struggle with addiction miss out on many of the joys of adolescence, such as developing healthy friendships, achieving success at school, and reaching personal goals, says Steinhagen. It's also very common for young people who struggle with addiction to experience co-occurring mental health problems or family difficulties, requiring Hazelden's clinically integrated approach to effectively address such complex needs. At last report, more than 90 percent of patients at Hazelden's Center for Youth and Families were admitted with a previously diagnosed co-occurring mental health issue.

Having licensed mental health clinicians on site to treat co-occurring mental health disorders concurrently with addiction treatment is just one of the distinguishing characteristics of Hazelden's developmentally sensitive and sophisticated care for youth, says Steinhagen. Other distinctively Hazelden attributes include:

• a commitment to ensuring clinicians receive the most up-to-date education on evidence-based practices
• a dedicated research arm, the Butler Center for Research, that quantifies treatment outcomes and studies the effectiveness of emerging practices
• a particularly strong family system component to care, with specific tracks for parents and siblings
• an expert and experienced clinical staff who know how to reach and help young people

"Hazelden's signature model of care has proven to be effective for this population," Steinhagen notes. "Decades of experience have validated our philosophy that teens and young adults are most open to change when treated in an environment of dignity and respect."

As one of the nation's most highly regarded addiction treatment centers for young people, Hazelden's Plymouth campus is a place where thousands of young patients from throughout the country have been able to gain a fresh start on life. The campus expansion will ensure that many more have that same opportunity. For updates on the youth campus project, visit hazelden.org/plymouthexpansion.

Published in the Voice, Fall 2011