Recovery Centers of America (RCA), a nationally recognized provider of evidence-based addiction treatment, has announced that its network of treatment facilities has once again been included in Newsweek’s 2026 list of America’s Best Residential Addiction Treatment Centers. This marks the seventh consecutive year that RCA has received the recognition.

The annual ranking is produced in collaboration with Statista Inc., a leading provider of statistics and industry rankings. It identifies the country’s highest-performing inpatient and residential addiction treatment facilities based on factors including quality of care, professional reputation, and patient experiences.

For 2026, the ranking recognizes the top 440 residential addiction treatment centers in the United States.

The assessment draws on four primary sources of information:

Brett Cohen, chief executive officer of Recovery Centers of America, said the organization remains focused on its mission of helping save one million lives affected by substance use and mental health disorders, one individual at a time. He added that the continued recognition from Newsweek reflects the commitment of RCA’s clinical teams, the effectiveness of its treatment approach, and the organization’s dedication to patients and their families.

With more than 17,000 addiction treatment facilities operating across the United States, being included among the 440 highest-ranked residential centers underscores RCA’s focus on delivering high-quality treatment, compassionate care, and support aimed at sustainable recovery.

RCA provides comprehensive, evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health conditions, and primary mental illness at select locations. Its services span both inpatient and outpatient care. Inpatient programs include medically supervised detoxification and residential treatment, while outpatient services include PHP, IOP, GOP, and Recovery Living programs.

Support continues beyond formal treatment through services such as family education and coaching, case management, and an extensive alumni network. All RCA facilities are accredited by The Joint Commission and are designed to offer patients a supportive, comfortable, and stigma-free setting in which to pursue recovery.

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Grow Therapy (Grow), a mental health platform connecting patients with carefully screened therapists who accept insurance, has released new research and introduced Compass Parenting, a framework designed to shift parents away from trying to control every aspect of their children's digital lives and toward helping young people develop the skills to navigate those experiences independently.

The new findings combine three sources: the Grow Therapy and Morning Consult Youth Mental Health Survey, a peer-reviewed study examining clinical outcomes among Grow clients aged 9 to 17, and anonymized internal data from the company. Taken together, the findings highlight a generation that is increasingly willing to seek mental health support while also revealing a significant gap between how parents and teenagers view young people's emotional well-being.

Compass Parenting: From Gatekeeping to Guidance
As technology makes it increasingly difficult for parents to monitor and control everything their children encounter online, the traditional "gatekeeper" approach to parenting is becoming less practical. In response, Grow Therapy collaborated with clinical psychologist Dr. Jacinta Jimenez to develop Compass Parenting, a framework intended to help families navigate the challenges of growing up in an increasingly technology-driven environment.

Instead of relying primarily on strict screen-time limits and rigid digital rules, the approach encourages parents to become guides. The goal is to help children develop emotional regulation, self-awareness, resilience, and the confidence to seek appropriate support when they need it.

According to Dr. Jimenez, the objective is not to eliminate every challenge children may encounter, but to give them the emotional resources and support necessary to handle those challenges. Building strong connections, providing context, and offering guidance can help young people become more capable of managing the world around them independently.

Parents and Teenagers Often See Mental Health Differently
One of the clearest findings from the Youth Mental Health Survey is the difference between parents' perceptions of their children's mental health and what young people report themselves.

These findings suggest that parents may not always recognize when their children are struggling or understand where they turn for support.

Where Young People Turn When They Are Upset
When children and teenagers experience emotional distress, they frequently turn to resources that are immediately accessible, although those resources may not always provide meaningful support.

Social media is the most common outlet identified in the survey. 67% of young people say they scroll through social media when experiencing emotional strain, compared with only 9% who turn to a therapist or counselor.

The likelihood of talking with a parent also appears to vary depending on a young person's mental health.

Among teenagers who describe their mental health as good, almost half say they would speak with a parent when feeling stressed. Among those experiencing poorer mental health, that figure falls to just 23%.

At the same time, young people with poorer mental health are somewhat more likely to consider professional help. 24% say they would turn to a therapist, compared with 13% of peers reporting good mental health.

The findings indicate that parents may need to take a more proactive role, particularly when a child is struggling but is unlikely to initiate a conversation. The way parents approach that conversation can be just as important as starting it.

The GPS Principles of Compass Parenting
Dr. Jimenez identifies three practical principles—described as the GPS of Compass Parenting—to help parents build stronger connections with their children.

G — Get Curious
Parents are encouraged to approach their children's behavior with genuine curiosity rather than criticism. Instead of asking, "Why are you always on your phone?", a parent might ask, "What does scrolling do for you when you've had a difficult day?"

This approach can help parents understand the emotional needs behind a child's behavior.

P — Partner, Don't Police
Rather than imposing every solution unilaterally, parents and children can work together to establish healthy routines. This might include family-wide phone-free periods, bedtime practices designed to protect sleep, or an agreed plan for identifying trusted people to contact when stress becomes difficult to manage.

S — Seek to Understand Rather Than Assume
Because parents and teenagers may interpret emotional distress very differently, assumptions can easily lead to misunderstandings. Open-ended questions such as "What has been the hardest part of your week?" can create opportunities for honest discussion without making the conversation feel like an interrogation.

Professional Support Can Also Make a Difference
While the Compass Parenting principles can help families communicate more effectively, some situations require professional intervention. Despite the continuing youth mental health crisis, only around half of young people who require treatment actually receive it.

New peer-reviewed research involving nearly 10,000 Grow Therapy patients between the ages of 9 and 17 provides evidence that engaging in treatment and remaining in care can lead to meaningful improvement.

Staying in Treatment Is Important
The study found that the therapeutic relationship generally becomes established around the third session. This is also a point at which many young people discontinue treatment. Approximately three-quarters of the young people in the study attended at least three sessions, allowing them to move beyond this early stage of care.

Meaningful Clinical Improvement
Most Grow clients aged 9 to 17 who entered treatment with elevated levels of depression or anxiety experienced sufficient improvement to meet a high clinical threshold. Symptoms including low mood, reduced interest, nervousness, and excessive worry became less frequent, less severe, or both.

Growing Demand for Youth Mental Health Services
Grow's internal data also indicates increasing demand for youth-focused mental health services. Between 2024 and 2025, utilization among Gen Alpha increased by 57%, while searches related to parenting rose by 145%.

Dr. Inderpreet Dhillon, Senior Medical Director at Grow Therapy, emphasized the importance of early intervention, noting that many lifetime mental health conditions emerge during adolescence. Helping young people establish a connection with a mental health professional and remain engaged during the early stages of treatment can have implications that extend well beyond their immediate symptoms.

Methodology
Youth Mental Health Survey: Grow Therapy commissioned Morning Consult to conduct an online survey from June 18–25, 2026. The research included two independent samples: 500 parents of children aged 13–21 and 525 young people aged 13–17. The margin of error for the overall samples was approximately ±4 percentage points, with wider margins for individual subgroups.

Digital Health Study: The peer-reviewed study, "Engagement and outcomes of children and adolescents enrolled in a technology-enabled mental health treatment platform," was published in DIGITAL HEALTH in 2026. It examined a retrospective cohort of Grow Therapy patients aged 9–17 whose first provider visit occurred between January 2022 and April 2024.
Grow Internal Reporting: The company also analyzed anonymized platform data collected during 2024 and 2025 to assess changes in service utilization and interest in parenting-related resources.

Aflac Incorporated, a leading provider of supplemental health insurance products in the United States, has improved its hospital insurance product to include income protection for mental health treatment while lowering the number of hospital confinement hours required to qualify for benefits. The improved product, dubbed "Aflac Choice," is intended to assist customers with costs associated with doctor visits, hospitalizations, and mental health treatment that are not covered by health insurance.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, mental illness and/or substance use disorders account for one out of every eight emergency department visits by adults in the United States, and mood disorders are the leading cause of hospitalization for all Americans under the age of 45. 1 Furthermore, 24.7% of all adults with a mental health condition cited a lack of funds as a barrier to seeking treatment.

"Today many Americans face stress, anxiety, depression and other concerns that can lead to mental health challenges and hospitalization," said Keith Farley, senior vice president, Aflac Individual Voluntary Benefits.

"Amid rising health care costs, seeking appropriate and timely care can be costly, which only contributes to the burden for many who are facing a health crisis. Aflac Choice Hospital Insurance puts healing and recovery at the forefront so that Aflac policyholders can focus on getting better rather than worry about how to help close the gap between what their health care insurance does and doesn't cover."

Aflac Choice Hospital Insurance can help protect an employer's workforce's overall physical, financial, and mental health in addition to helping policyholders. Employees can tailor coverage to their specific needs and budgets, ensuring their employees have the protection they require whenever a health event occurs.

"Even with health insurance, an unplanned visit to the hospital may leave individuals and families with unpaid medical bills, which can be devastating to their financial and mental health," said Kim Rudeen, vice president, Aflac Product Development. 

"When a hospital stay is necessary, our customers can experience peace of mind knowing that they'll have hospital coverage to help protect their financial well-being and worry a little less."

To get more information on Aflac, click here.