Youth Behavioral Health Hospital

Learn More About YBH

4YBH is a specialized unit of UNC Hospitals’ Youth Behavioral Health in Butner, North Carolina affiliated with the UNC School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Program on Neurodevelopmental

Psychiatry. 4YBH is an acute inpatient psychiatric unit with a 10-person capacity dedicated to serving pediatric patients (age 10-17) with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, or a related neurodevelopmental disability (IDD) in need of crisis stabilization. There are no other specialized inpatient psychiatric units for pediatric patients with IDD in North Carolina (or any adjacent state).

Inpatient treatment is most appropriate when the available care in the community has been exhausted or unsuccessful and patients are in severe and acute emotional or behavioral crisis. The following are criteria that may lead to treatment at our hospital.

• Imminent and significant risk of harm, including from aggression, suicidal thoughts or actions, self-injurious behavior, elopement, mania, or psychosis.
• The symptoms and unsafe behaviors require 24-hour monitoring and assessment for safety and stabilization.

We are dedicated to improving the health, quality of life, and outcomes for the patients in our care within a safe and therapeutic environment. Comprehensive care involves our highly skilled professional staff from Nursing, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychology, Pediatrics, Social Work, Pastoral Care, Dietitian, Pharmacy, Child Life, and Therapy Services including Occupational, Recreational, Music, Yoga, and Activities Therapy.

Utilizing a multidisciplinary team effort, it is our goal to better understand and support pediatric patients in crisis and establish tools, treatments, and safe and effective pharmacological interventions to assist in stabilization of emotional distress and unsafe behavior. By collaborating with caregivers to establish realistic routines and structure, identify sensory needs, and promote autonomy, our hope is to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration into the home and community.

YBH4 Referral

Gathering information early in the admission process to better understand each patient’s individual needs is a key component to successful treatment.