915 River Road
Middletown, CT 06457
860-704-4000
- Who We Are
- Mission and Beliefs
- Our Care Environment
- Our Campus
- Our Continuum of Care
- Dietary/Food Service
- Contact Us
- Directions
- Intake PRTF Referral Form
- Hospital Referral Form
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Who We Are
Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center– South Campus is a state-administered Psychiatric facility for Connecticut’s children ages 13 to 17.
The Solnit Center provides comprehensive care to children and adolescents with severe mental illness and related behavioral and emotional problems who cannot be safely assessed or treated in a less restrictive setting.
The South Campus consists of four coed hospital units and three female adolescent psychiatric residential treatment facility cottages (PRTFs). The hospital units are licensed and operated by UConn Health John Dempsey Hospital, and the PRTFs are part of the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Mission and Beliefs
UConn Health and the Department of Children and Families share in the mission to provide caring, healing, and teaching at the Solnit South Campus and to partner with children, families, and communities to build hope and create opportunities.
We are widely recognized as a center of excellence for family-centered treatment of children and youth with serious emotional disturbances.
We believe that:
- Children and adolescents with serious emotional disorders can lead productive and satisfying lives.
- Children, youth, and their families have the right and responsibility to participate in their treatment.
- No child will be refused treatment based on their ability to pay for services.
- Our services work best when integrated with community care.
Our Care Environment
At the Solnit Center, we treat our youth and each other with dignity and respect. It is in this relational, cultural, and gender-sensitive surrounding that our therapeutic environment is based. Interdisciplinary teams develop, implement, and continually assess individualized treatment plans.
Core Team Members include:
- Child / Adolescent Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Nurses
- Direct-Care Staff
- Social Workers
- Rehabilitation Therapists
- Teachers
This team of professionals strives to support, calm and stabilize children and youth who are in a temporary state of extreme psychiatric distress, and to prepare them and their families for their return home or placement in a less restrictive setting.
Our Campus
Our 67-acre campus is centrally located in Middletown, Connecticut overlooking the Connecticut River. The Solnit Center facilities support our dedication to helping youth improve their individual and social competencies. The campus includes:
- Two schools
- Indoor pool
- Playgrounds
- Ball field
- Two gyms
- Recreation rooms
- Outdoor picnic area
- Four inpatient adolescent behavioral health units
- Three PRTF units
Our Continuum of Care
Upon evaluation and admission to the Solnit Center, we begin planning the youth’s treatment and discharge plan. It is our belief that placement is only one component in a continuing system of psychiatric treatment.
When a youth is ready to leave the Solnit Center, the core team assesses the youth’s needs and coordinates services for post-facility care. We make every effort to return the youth to their home at the end of treatment. When either the youth or the family is not able to make a home goal possible, our staff works with the family, the DCF Area Office, and others who are actively involved in the child’s care to find the best possible solution. Options may include either a placement in a foster home, group home, or residential treatment facility.
Dietary/Food Service
- Food Service Information
- Solnit South Menu (2021-2022)
- 2021 Wellness Report
- 2021 DCF Administrative Review Summary
Directions (or use Google Maps for personalized directions)
From Hartford:
I-91 South to Route 9 (left-hand exit) and then to Middletown.
Take Silver Street Exit and turn left off ramp over Route 9.
Follow Silver Street to end, juncture with River Road.
Turn right on River Road and look for sign.
From 9 North to Middletown:
Take Eastern Drive Exit to right.
Follow Eastern Drive to Silver Street.
Turn right on Silver Street to end, juncture with River Road.
Turn right on River Road and look for sign.
From Route 9 or Wilbur Cross
Take Route 9 North to Route 66, Meriden-Middletown Exit.
Right on Route 66 (becomes Washington Street in Middletown) to juncture with Route 9 at Connecticut River.
Turn right on Route 9 to Silver Street Exit and follow instructions under Hartford, above.
From Routes 66 and 6A
Routes 66 & 6A southeast to Middletown via Portland Bridge.
Follow signs off bridge to Route 9 (left around rotary and right down under railroad tracks).
Right on Route 9 to Silver Street. Exit and follow instructions under Hartford above.