SummitView experience from a parent's perspective Our experience at SummitView started with hope since the program was sponsored and supported by Kaiser mental health. For our child, the early days were filled with anxiety and fear as any new residential program but we were hopeful that safety and recovery would prevail. We were wrong! While the program provided structure, safety, education, and therapy, it was the therapy that let us down the most. Most residential programs have a well built structure in place, qualified resources, strong leadership, and programming that builds hope for your loved one. Unfortunately SummitView is severely lacking in most of the critical functions required to aid in recovery. There is little to no accountability or ownership for program outcomes. How Kaiser can continue to fund and support SummitView is a clear example of the degradation of Kaiser mental health services. Yes, I'm angry! Yes, I had higher expectations! Yes, our children deserve better! SummitView and Kaiser Behavioral Health should strive to do better by reviewing current mission, program outcomes, and the critical levers needed to build recovery sustainment. There are a few heroes at SummitView however they are lost in the therapy service delivery deficit. Our kids deserve better! Concerned parent! read more

Summitview staff is knowledgeable, compassionate and partners with parents to achieve youths goals. When we took our teenage daughter to the program, she was reluctant. 3 weeks in and she is settled and starting to thrive. They are always transparent and help both parents and youth get healthy together. Kaiser is an awesome HMO that referred us. Especially Dr. Singh in Oakland, CA. We are so fortunate to have access to the best mental healthcare providers at Kaiser and SummitView. For the first time in 2 years, I am very encouraged. Thanks SummitView (Carol, Kiera, Leah, Lei, Christy and all staff. Thanks Dr. Sanmit Singh. read more

It took 3 months to get an answer for placement. They will string you along as they look for easier kids to work with. "Oh, we are reviewing the files", for three months! "We don't know if they are a right fit for us", seriously? Are you here to help kids, or pick the cream of the crop and work with only easy cases? If you are considering Summitview to place your child, I would strongly suggest looking elsewhere. read more

If you are considering a career in human services and desire a strong foundational experience working with at-risk youth, Summitview is an excellent place to begin. Working as part of a skilled and committed team, you will be given opportunities to make a positive impact in the lives of the youth Summitview serves. While challenging, working with this population will expand one's skill set dramatically, and the rewards and experience that arise from this job role will pay personal and career dividends for many years to come. The several years I spent working at Summitview were among the most valuable of my career in health and human services, and I am happy to recommend Summitview Child and Family Services, Inc. read more

i went to this program back in 2022 for 5 months and i left when i turned 18 because i just could no longer be there. now that it's almost been two years, i've done a lot of reflecting about my time there. while there were some dedicated and compassionate staff members, overall, my experience had a lot of difficult moments. one of the most significant issues i faced when i was there was the lack of proper handling of situations when individuals were struggling intensely. while there were a few staff members who genuinely cared and supported me during those difficult moments, many others made me feel ashamed for my struggles, particularly when it came to my self harm. instead of providing understanding and empathy, i often felt judged and misunderstood. this lack of support made it challenging to be vulnerable and open up about my struggles with most of the staff. now the point system.... not great. the point system was for group activities and school and it literally felt so arbitrary and unfair. there was an incident when i was feeling suicidal and i had to step out of a group session, i ran out because i didn't know what to do. as a result of this, points were taken away which seemed illogical given the severity of the situation. it felt as though the staff failed to recognize that i would struggle to utilize my coping skills effectively. this lack of understanding created a lot of stress and hindered my progress. another thing, my experience with my assigned therapist(kierra) was deeply disappointing. not to mention, they assign you a therapist based on the house you're at, not your needs. when i shared my past experience of sexual assault with the therapist i had, i expected support and validation. instead, i felt so invalidated and felt blamed for what happened to me. she suggested that i could've prevented the assault from happening. this response was deeply hurtful and displayed a lack of understanding and sensitivity. on a positive note, i did develop a strong connection with one of the staff members who made me feel safe and supported. i felt comfortable being vulnerable and sharing my thoughts and my emotions. however, this connection that i had with her was seen as an unhealthy attachment by the higher up staff, leading to restrictions on my interactions with her. i struggled to comprehend how denying me access to the person who provided me the most support would contribute to my healing and growth. in terms of the programs strengths, my family specialist and a few other staff members had a very positive impact on me and they genuinely cared and helped me navigate the program. their support was crucial in getting me through the entire program. however one area where the treatment center fell short was post program support. while individuals leaving the program were allowed to stay in contact with a staff member for an extended period, i was told i could only get support for one month, to prevent dependency and this honestly felt misguided and neglectful of my ongoing well being. so in conclusion, this program had its pros and im sure there are individuals who have had positive experiences. however from my perspective, it was not the transformative experience i initially anticipated. the lack of understanding, inconsistent support and questionable decision making regarding aftercare left me feeling let down. i really hope that this program has made improvements since my time there to better serve individuals in need. read more

if you have a severely mentally ill child and you have exhausted your insurance and personal savings and have no choice but to rely on the child welfare system to help, this place will keep your child alive until you can figure out a better plan. don't expect more than that, and expect a bunch of BS from staff and management. I do think some staff care, Sara Busse the director is incompetent and tries to blame everyone including parents for her own incompetence. Anna Gleason does show her face to make sure she's getting paid occasionally. There are certain caring front line staff but I think they burn out fast due to management so don't expect a consistent care team. Again, if your child is very sick and suicidal, self harms, and can't be in your home, they will keep them alive. But it's not treatment here, it's survival. At least it's in a rural location instead of other places like the sacto children's receiving home where kids have died or have been trafficked. Summitview has this going for them. read more

I, myself was admitted to summitveiw in July of 2014. At first, like all changes, it was hard and I hated it. Throughout the process I attended school 8 am through 1 pm Mondays through Fridays and "Day rehab" 1 pm to 5 pm Mondays through Fridays. The housing situation was also hard to adjust to. Room mate and five other girls close to my age in one house. I eventually learned to "appreciate" the ladies in my house. we all had a weekly chore that we had to complete daily (table clean up, vacuuming, dishes, sweeping/mop ect..). This built a lot of structure in my life. Weekends were always fun whether I was able to visit home or not. Weekend staff usually took the house on outings. Shopping malls and activities outdoors, lots of fun. I did not complete the program but I was there for six months and learned how to cope with my issues in a productive healthy way. I was fourteen when I was admitted to and left summitveiw. I am now 18. I graduated June 7 of this year and am now going to start college. If anyone from the staff or administrators is reading this I just wanted to say thank you for changing my life for the better. I still use the DBT skills you provided to me and keep up what you do no matter how defiant and tough the program gets, something like this needs to be around for girls with issues just like me. read more

First off, let me start by saying that I'm utterly disappointed with the quality of this program. Last October, my granddaughter was admitted to Summitview with the hopes that a stay at a Level 14 facility would hone the skills she uses on a day-to-day basis and improve her quality of life. Boy, were we wrong. The therapist she was assigned to didn't seem to pay any mind to any of her real issues and she was quite rude. The "therapy" groups there were merely coloring pages, word searches, and movies. All of the staff I met were incredibly rude and insensitive. We ended up pulling my granddaughter from the program early because it seemed to be putting her in a worse place than she already was. I would not recommend sending anybody you care for to this facility. read more

i went there myself and i had the best experience if only they saw through my behavior and saw my emotions although they did help a lot i still have lots to improve on in the mental health aspects of my life. -gh read more