Admission criteria

Before a clinically managed low-intensity residential care program may admit a client, the client must: 1. Meet diagnostic criteria for a substance-related disorder of the DSM; and 2. Meet specifications in each of the six ASAM dimensions. Specifically, the client; a. Must not be in need of detoxification from alcohol or drugs nor have any signs or symptoms of withdrawal that cannot be safely managed by the program; b. Must not have a physical condition or complication impacting immediate safety or well-being requiring twenty-four-hour medical or nursing interventions and be capable of self-administering any prescribed medications but has a biomedical condition that distracts from recovery efforts and requires limited residential supervision to ensure adequate treatment or to provide support to overcome the distraction; or continued substance use would place the adolescent at risk of serious damage to the client's health because of the biomedical condition or an imminently dangerous pattern of high-risk use; c. Must not have an emotional, behavioral, or cognitive condition or complication that impacts immediate safety or well-being requiring twenty-four-hour medical or nursing interventions unless in a dual diagnosis program but does have problems in the areas of dangerousness or lethality to self or others; interference with addiction recovery efforts; social functioning; ability for self-care; or course of illness; d. Must be at a stage of readiness to change in which the client requires limited twenty-four-hour supervision to promote or sustain progress through the stages of change and is cooperative and likely to engage in treatment at this level of care; e. Is in danger of relapse because of a lack of monitoring or is in danger of relapse because supervision between treatment encounters at a less intensive level of care has been a major barrier to abstinence; recovery skills are not yet sufficient to overcome environmental triggers such as peer pressure; or a history of chronic substance use, repeated relapse, or resistance to treatment predicts continued use or relapse without residential containment; f. Has been living in an environment in which there is a high risk of neglect or initiation or repetition of physical, sexual, or severe emotional abuse; has a family member or other household member with an active substance use disorder; substance use is endemic in the home environment; has a social network that is too chaotic or ineffective to support or sustain treatment goals; or has logistical impediments such as distance from a treatment facility or lack of transportation that precludes participation at a less intensive level of care; and g. Is able to cope for limited periods of time outside of the residential structure to pursue clinical, vocational, educational, and community activities.