The Beacon Youth and Family Center, which has provided mental-health services for at-risk teens for 42 years, on Wednesday announced it will shut down April 30. The primary reason: Declining referrals for residential treatment from state and county services.
“The bottom has fallen out of that market,” said executive director Michael Guthrie. “There is just not money in the system to cover the needs in the community.”
Licensed for 54 beds, the Englewood in-patient treatment center used to be full, with a waiting list. Today, there are six patients, all referred by the state Division of Youth Corrections.
Beacon provides residential treatment, crisis care, drug-and-alcohol treatment, and community-based therapy.
Department of Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said the number of in-patient adolescent treatment beds has been dwindling statewide. The total number of beds was not immediately available. Youth corrections falls under human services.
“We’re deeply saddened that the program will not be around anymore,” she said. “It will certainly be a loss, they’ve been a good provider for us for years.”
Guthrie said the majority of Beacon’s referrals were from youth corrections, typically “teens who’d committed a crime, but also had been diagnosed with a form of mental illness, from depression and anxiety to bipolar disorder.
“About 70 percent of kids in the DYC system have a diagnosable mental health need,” Guthrie said. “A lot of these kids have a history of neglect and abuse.”
The youth corrections will be able to find other places for residential treatment, McDonough said, but “it is saddening because this program has been around for a very long time.”
The center had received significant community support, especially from groups like Cherish the Children Guild, which had planned its annual gala this year for May 7, but has now cancelled the event.
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
