'And what about residential...?' Re-conceptualizing residential treatment as a stop-gap service for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders

The need for residential services for youth with the most intractable emotional and behavioral problems continues to exist despite advances made in developing community‐based systems of care. Residential treatment centers (RTCs), considered one of the most restrictive service settings, have changed little over the years and have not fared well in outcome evaluations. Despite these factors, admissions to RTCs continue to increase. In an attempt to contemporize and bring the RTC more in line with current practice, a stop‐gap model of service delivery is recommended. The stop‐gap model, incorporating evidence‐based practices, is intended to have an immediate and positive impact on the barrier behaviors that keep youths in the most restrictive environments. The twofold goal of the stop‐gap model is to interrupt the youth's downward spiral imposed by increasingly disruptive behavior and, simultaneously, to prepare the post‐discharge environment for the youth's timely reintegration. Strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of the stop‐gap model are recommended. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.