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The Aichhorn RTF-Manhattan (RTF-M)

     The August Aichhorn Residential Treatment Facility-Manhattan (RTF-M) was located at 23 West 106th Street, one block west of Central Park in Manhattan.

The RTF-M was a co-educational 32-bed  Medicaid-funded,  long-term psychiatric treatment facility for teenagers.  Residents had to be referred by the New York City Pre-Admission Certification Committee (PACC) operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH).  The PACC only referred youngsters who had had multiple unsuccessful placements and/or hospitalizations, and because of their psychiatric or emotional difficulties could not be maintained in any less intensively-supervised setting.  Most residents were admitted from acute care psychiatric units, State Children's Psychiatric Centers, other long-term psychiatric treatment programs (usually RTFs), or the juvenile justice system.  The PACC generally required that these beds be reserved for residents of New York City.  The RTF-M had  no other admission requirements except provision of various Medicaid-mandated documentation.

The RTF-M was staffed and equipped to provide very high levels of supervision on an extended basis if necessary.  However, its location in a  popular residential neighborhood, with very easy access to a wide variety of educational, recreational and cultural resources as well as all the ordinary life of a thriving community, allowed the RTF to offer residents extensive carefully-monitored opportunities to gain increasing independence and involvement in the "real" world.   The facility provided on-site clinical, educational, recreational and medical services on a continuous basis.

The RTF-M opened in May, 1991 and was at 100% occupancy except in the final months of operation in spring of 2020.  The average length of stay of discharged residents was about 30 months for most of the program's operation, although it declined markedly in the final years as a result of pressure from the OMH.

The Aichhorn RTF-Brooklyn (RTF-B)

  The former Building #2 of the Brooklyn Children's (Psychiatric) Center was converted into the new, 24-bed Aichhorn Residential Treatment Facility-Brooklyn (RTF-B).   To download a powerpoint presentation illustrating the renovation of the facility, click here.  The program, located at 2050 Dean Street, in the Weeksville neighborhood of Brooklyn, opened on June 25, 2012.  The RTF-B replicated the program features of the RTF-Manhattan, and it had the same admissions criteria and procedures, but referrals were limited to adolescents who had been remanded to the custody of the New York State Office of Children and Families (OCFS).

The Aichhorn School, housed in the RTF buildings, was a secondary special education school chartered by the New York State Board of Regents under Article 81 of the State Education Law to service the 56 residents of both Aichhorn RTF programs, 32 in Manhattan and 24 in Brooklyn. The school offered approved New York State curriculum for grades 9 through 12 in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math, Art, and Physical and Health Education.  Students earned high school credits and were eligible to take New York Regents' examinations.  The school�s mission was to provide our youngsters with the academic, social, and vocational skills necessary for them to return to their communities as self-sufficient adults.  All the students at the Aichhorn School were certified as special education students in need of related services. The primary diagnostic category for students at Aichhorn was emotional disability. However, many students were also burdened with learning disabilities.

All students are engaged in a secondary school departmentalized program.. All classes had a student/staff ratio of 6-1-2 .  Formal classes were held from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., with a lunch break during which students returned to their "home" units.  In addition, we incorporated an afternoon and weekend "activities" program of supervised study, tutoring, trips and workshops to enhance and expand the learning experiences.

The education of the residents at Aichhorn was a major part of their psychiatric treatment, and teachers' daily conduct reports and monthly progress reports were a meaningful part of each child's treatment planning.  Teachers participated in each student's monthly comprehensive treatment planning meetings and had an important role in the implementation of each youngster's academic and clinical plans.

[rev. 2/21/24]