Montana is set to invest $1.2 million with aims to expand psychiatric residential bed capacity for youths experiencing serious emotional disturbances in the state.
Here are four things to know:
- The state awarded two-year grants totaling $618,500 each to Helena-based Shodair Children’s Hospital and Billings-based Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch, according to a May 18 news release from Gov. Greg Gianforte’s office. Grant funding may be used for construction, facility upgrades, staff recruitment and training, and family engagement initiatives.
- The funding is part of a $123 million behavioral health package approved by the state Legislature in 2025 and signed into law by Mr. Gianforte. The package funded 10 recommendations from the Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission.
- The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services said the state saw a 41% increase in children receiving in-state treatment through psychiatric residential treatment facilities in 2025 after the addition of 52 new or reopened beds through the commission’s Residential Bed Capacity Near-Term Initiative.
- Nearly 200 Montana youths sought treatment in out-of-state psychiatric residential treatment facilities in 2025, according to the release.
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