The Arizona Public Health Association says an AHCCCS solicitation brings attention to Arizona’s longstanding lack of secure residential treatment settings.
Secure behavioral health facilities return to discussion
The Arizona Public Health Association reports that Arizona has long faced a major gap in mental health care: a lack of secure residential treatment settings for people with serious mental illness that is resistant to treatment. The association’s article identifies an AHCCCS solicitation as putting secure behavioral health facilities back on the table.
A need identified by families and advocates
According to the Arizona Public Health Association, some people with serious mental illness, including conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, may not engage in voluntary treatment because of their illness. The association says families can then watch loved ones cycle through emergency rooms, jails and homelessness without access to the long-term, structured care they need.
The association describes these proposed settings as secure behavioral health residential facilities, or SBHRFs. It says the facilities were intended to provide a secure, therapeutic environment where people with serious mental illness could receive intensive treatment while being protected.
Authorization did not lead to openings
The Arizona Public Health Association says legislation passed in 2019 authorized SBHRFs in Arizona. However, the association reports that not a single SBHRF has opened since that authorization.
The association attributes the lack of openings to opposition from the ACLU of Arizona and the Arizona Center for Disability Law. This is the association’s account of the barriers to opening the facilities.
A gap in the treatment system
The Arizona Public Health Association says the absence of secure residential treatment leaves vulnerable Arizona residents and their families without hope for recovery. It also says the lack of these settings limits discharge opportunities from the Arizona State Hospital, Valleywise and other inpatient hospital systems.
The association describes a “missing middle” in the system: people who are too ill for an open setting may instead end up in emergency rooms or jails, or remain at the state hospital longer than needed. Its article frames secure residential treatment as a missing option between inpatient care and less restrictive settings.
What this means for Arizona patients
For people seeking treatment locally, the issue highlights the range of care settings available in Arizona; the directory lists 196 published clinics in Arizona.
This is general information, not medical advice.
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This report is educational and is not medical advice. Coverage, availability and eligibility can change; verify details with the named source or your care team.