First-of-its-kind therapeutic home opens in Bartlesville

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — Families in Green Country will soon have access to a unique mental health resource.

Grand Mental Health is a therapeutic group home in Bartlesville that provides a safe place for families and children in crisis. CEO Larry Smith says the goal is to keep families together.

The facility will work with the Department of Mental Health and Substance and Abuse, DHS, and local school districts to refer children at risk of being removed from their home.

Children transitioning out of inpatient care are also eligible to stay in the home, along with entire families in crisis. One week of intensive, therapeutic treatment is available.

During family treatment, parents can wear earpieces to get professional guidance in real-time through tough interactions.

“We actually will be here to watch them go through tougher interactions before school, after school, or after dinner,” explained employee Jordan Long. “We will be there to observe them in the home to be able to provide coaching, to give them tools and ideas on how to stop a behavior when it’s happening and how to prevent it in the future.”

The idea is to provide children who are struggling with a soft landing.

There are safety modifications in the home. Most of the appliances are ligature-proof, there are no ceiling fans, and there’s an open floor plan for parents can keep a close watch on any child that shows self-harming behaviors.

Despite this, the four bedroom, two bath home doesn’t feel clinical.

“We did a lot of work to make this feel like a home, and we don’t want it to feel like you’re inpatient,” said Long.

Grand Mental Health says this facility is the first in the country, and they are able to help 52 families a year.

In 2020, more than 4,000 children in Oklahoma moved into inpatient care or foster care, which costs taxpayers $55 million dollars. Grand Mental Health says this week of care to the entire family will allow more families to stay together.