Hospitalization of adolescents for psychiatric and substance abuse treatment. Legal and ethical issues

It has been estimated that as many as 12%-15% of the nations 63 million children are in need of mental health treatment. We have a responsibility to do everything we can to see to it that these children receive the services they need. Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence that a significant proportion of our health care resources are being misspent on the unnecessary and inappropriate hospitalization of children and youths in psychiatric and substance abuse treatment programs. More alarming is the evidence of poor quality programs, abusive practices, and greed. The intense competition to capture a "share of the market" and turn a profit or keep a nonprofit hospital from closing its doors is contributing to unprofessional and unethical advertising and public relations practices. In the end these practices will reflect poorly on the broader mental health and health care community. Hopefully, the stakeholders in the system will recognize these problems and assume a leadership role in turning the situation around. If not, we can expect intervention from forces outside the system (e.g., courts, elected public officials, public interest groups, the business community, and child advocates).