Family admission policy in a child psychiatric unit

The literature on residential admissions of whole families to psychiatric facilities is reviewed. Over the past decade, several child and family psychiatric centres have become the focus of innovative family admission programs. When a child or family presents with serious psychiatric problems, the availability of such programs dramatically increases the effective assessment and treatment options available. The benefits of a whole family admission policy are outlined and illustrated by a case example. In some cases, a brief family admission circumvents the need for a lengthy admission of the child alone. Disadvantages and contraindications are described. The adoption of a set of criteria and a specific policy for family admissions in a child psychiatric residential unit has challenged its organisational structure. The conceptual framework applied to requests for admission has broadened and been complemented by creative program development within the centre for children and families.