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 AUGUST
AICHHORN CENTER
for
ADOLESCENT RESIDENTIAL CARE, Inc.
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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.