How to Admit or Refer to Skyland Trail
Skyland Trail accepts referrals from professional and non-professional sources to our psychiatric residential treatment and day treatment programs. While professionals are an important referral source, we welcome family and self-referrals as well.
Admissions Process Step-by-Step
The admissions process for adult residential treatment, adult day treatment, adolescent residential treatment, and adolescent day treatment typically involve the following steps.
Learn More Step by Step Admission Process
Step 1: Information Call
Call us to discuss your needs and our program. Our foremost goal is to assure that Skyland Trail is a good fit and that we offer the level of care you need. Potential clients need to demonstrate that they will be actively engaged in their recovery process. Treatment is successful only when clients commit to making positive changes in their lives by taking prescribed medication (adult clients), participating in individual and group therapy, and practicing new skills and behaviors.
Step 2: Financial Estimate
If, after an initial conversation with our admissions team, you decide you would like to learn more about potential admission to Skyland Trail, we will provide verification of insurance benefits and an estimate of treatment costs. A number of private insurance companies cover Skyland Trail services; however, as with other health treatment, insurance does not typically cover the entire cost of the program or the recommended length of stay for a full recovery. Because every client and situation is unique, Skyland Trail provides up-front financial counseling for clients who move forward with the admissions process. After we receive the client's medical records, a financial counselor will contact you to schedule a conversation. If you and our financial counselor determine that a combination of private insurance, private pay, and financial aid (if eligible) will allow for you or your loved one to benefit from treatment at Skyland Trail, we will schedule an assessment interview with an admissions counselor.
Step 3: Medical Records
Skyland Trail must receive the client's medical records before we can schedule an assessment appointment. With your consent, Skyland Trail will request records from previous mental healthcare providers, but the process often moves more quickly when families get involved and ask providers to share records as well.
Adult and adolescent clients must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 prior to admission and provide proof of vaccination.
Adult and adolescent clients must provide proof of vaccination with the CDC-approved seasonal flu vaccine or be willing to receive the flu shot from Skyland Trail on the day of admission.
Adolescent immunizations: To protect the health of our clients and staff, all adolescents must provide a current record of immunizations prior to admission. The record should show dates for all vaccines on the CDC's Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule for ages 18 years or younger and be signed by a licensed physician or public health official.
Step 4: Assessment Interview
The next step in the admissions process is for the applicant to have an assessment interview on our campus or over the phone with one of our admissions counselors. If an individual is hospitalized in Atlanta we may be able to send an admissions counselor to the hospital to complete the assessment. The interview lasts approximately 1–2 hours and is typically one-on-one with the potential client. For adolescent clients, we conduct an additional 30-minute interview with the potential client's parents or guardians. We will ask questions about the applicant's physical and mental health history, current symptoms, use of alcohol or drugs, previous treatment outcomes, etc. Following the assessment interview, our treatment team determines whether the applicant is appropriate for treatment and recommends an initial level of care.
Step 5: Covid-19 Screening
On the day of admission, the client will complete a screening for Covid-19 that may include an antigen Covid-19 test. If, at the discretion of the Skyland Trail medical team, a Covid-19 test is administered and is positive, the client will be required to return home. They must quarantine and receive medical clearance to reschedule the admission appointment.
Step 6: Welcome to Treatment
If the outcome of the screening (with possible test) on the day of admission is clear, clients may proceed with the admission appointment and then begin attending in-person groups, individual sessions, and meals in the dining room(s). Masks are optional at this time.