Well a better word than acute might also be, less expensive. Hospitalization costs a lot of money, I remember them telling me it was well over 1k a day, so most parents can't pay that kind of money out of pocket. So insurance companies become the gatekeeper whether your child can or cannot stay in the hospital a few days longer. I've seen desperate parents pleading with the doctors to keep their child just a few more days, but if insurance won't pay, then the kid goes home. In that situation a parent might want to have their child placed in an environment that is controlled 24/7, but not quite the level of care of a psychiatric hospital, because that way the cost will be less. I think it's a positive thing that programs take place in beautiful rural areas, rather than the locked doors, bars, and thick plexiglass windows you usually find in a hospital. Hospitalization could be considered an illusion since most of the patients are highly medicated, and kept in controlled environment, things quickly change when the kid leaves.