Formerly called Acute Residential Treatment (ART)
Community-Based Acute Treatment (CBAT) is a hospital-diversion program specifically designed to provide emergency short-term stabilization support to children between the ages of three and ten years old who are actively in severe emotional and behavioral crisis. The program accommodates girls and boys, and offers an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization that is less costly and often more clinically appropriate.
Created in response to the increasing number of very young children requiring crisis care, as well as the increasing severity and complexity of their presenting difficulties, the Walker CBAT offers short-term, multidisciplinary services designed to:
- stabilize young children in crisis who might otherwise be serially placed in developmentally inappropriate hospital settings
- provide thorough clinical assessments and diagnostic services
- facilitate the child's return to home or a transition to an appropriate therapeutic environment
- provide follow-up support, including the availability of diverse family and support services
- administer psychological testing, when appropriate, to clarify diagnostic issues
Our highly qualified CBAT clinical team is led by a director who is a licensed psychologist and health service provider; this team of clinicians, case managers and licensed social workers has twenty years collective experience working in residential and acute care settings. The Walker CBAT also offers assessment and diagnostic services through the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, and public school systems.
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