- Boys’ & girls’ homes
- Supervised 24/7
- Ages 12 to 17 only
Teen group home near Gilbert, AZ: supervised care.
Nexus Teen Academy runs two licensed houses that Gilbert families place into, Oak for boys in north Scottsdale and Mesquite for girls in Cave Creek, homes, not institutions, carrying daily therapy, psychiatry and accredited school, ages 12 to 17.
- Free & confidential · No obligation · (480) 485-3424
- 4.7 Google · 34 reviews
- AZDHS-licensed residential facility
- Most major private insurance accepted
- Call usation
- Counselor online now
Talk privately with admissions
Leave a number and a licensed admissions adviser rings back, normally within minutes, to work through the fit, the half-hour drive and what your plan will actually pay for.
- It's now where you are · typical callback under 10 minutes.
- HIPAA shields what you enter, and it is used for one return call about care. Submitting agrees to a call or text; standard rates can apply.
- 4.7 Google · 34 reviews
- Joint Commission accredited
Licensed and accredited, and all of it verifiable: AZDHS, Joint Commission, LegitScript.
Go straight to the issuing bodies: Joint Commission · AZDHS registry · LegitScript.
Two houses, half an hour north
Group homes nearest Gilbert: Oak and Mesquite.
Both houses hold AZDHS behavioral health residential licenses in Maricopa County and Joint Commission accreditation. Walk them in 3D here, then walk them in person before anyone signs.
Oak · the boys’ residence
8611 E Cholla St, Scottsdale, AZ 85260, about 30 minutes from Gilbert, 23.5 miles up the Loop 101.
View this facilityMesquite · the girls’ residence
2695 E Saddle Mountain Rd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331, about 1 hour from Gilbert, 48.1 miles via I-17 and Carefree Highway.
View this facilitySingle-gender houses take pressure out of group living, and one admissions line serves both, (480) 485-3424, answered day and night.
Setting, or standard of care
Group home vs residential treatment: what the license covers.
A group home names a place where teens live with staff. Whether anyone is treated there is a separate question, answered by the license class the house holds and by who delivers the therapy.
Same setting, two very different licenses
What the label hides, and what the license makes plain.
A licensed house, trained staff, shared routines, and round-the-clock supervision. Clinical depth varies widely from house to house; some run therapy on-site, many arrange it outside.
The same home-like setting carrying a full treatment program inside it, AZDHS behavioral-health licensure, daily therapy, psychiatric care and accredited school under one roof. Group home in shape, treatment center in substance.
What you get hereAsk any East Valley facility two questions, which license it holds and who delivers the therapy. Both answers for Nexus Teen Academy sit on this page, sourced.
Call (480) 485-3424 and ask bothWhy teens are placed
Conditions treated: mood, trauma and psychosis.
Placement starts with a diagnosis, and the treatment plan aims at it. Intake confirms the whole picture, because depression rarely arrives alone and ADHD rarely arrives without substance use.
Intake confirms the whole picture, and one plan covers all of it, because treating one condition while the others run untouched is why teens cycle through program after program.
Every condition below is treated inside the same home, by the same clinical team.
Primary reason for placement · Depression
Everything below is treated in the same plan, by the same team.
PTSD
Treated with TF-CBT and EMDR.
Trauma
Safety and stability come first.
Teen self-harm
Supervised, treated, screened daily.
Anxiety
School refusal often rides on it.
Suicidal thoughts
Screened at intake, supervised 24/7.
Depression
The most common admitting reason.
Low self-worth
Rebuilt through daily wins.
Mood & behavior disorders
Bipolar spectrum included.
ADHD & impulse control
Structure carries the executive load.
Psychotic disorders
Evaluated candidly at intake.
Personality disorders
Emerging patterns, addressed early.
Mood swings & anger
De-escalation taught and practiced.
- Whatever your teen is facing, care stays coordinated in one integrated plan, one clinical team, and one licensed house.
Before you commit
Who qualifies for placement: ages, diagnoses and four checks.
Admission is clinical and parent-led, ages 12 to 17, when anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD or substance use has grown past what weekly sessions can hold. Decide the level of care first, then check the facility, ours as well.
Teens are placed by parents or treating clinicians after outpatient care, PHP, or IOP stopped holding, or step down straight from psychiatric hospitalization. A teen in acute crisis stabilizes at a hospital first, and admissions times the transfer so treatment starts at discharge.
Foster and state placements run through DCS and its contracted providers, a separate system with its own group homes. When ours is not the right door, admissions points families and caseworkers to the one that is.
In a mental health crisis tonight, place the checks second, call or text 988 or go to the nearest emergency room first.
Then run four checks on any East Valley facility before you place your teen.
Look the license up first
AZDHS lists what every licensed house is actually obliged to provide. Treatment obligations and supervision obligations are different licenses, and the sign outside will not tell you which.
Check who the clinicians work for
An employed, licensed clinical team and a visiting contractor produce very different weeks. Get names and license numbers and verify them in the state registry rather than on a page like this one.
Pin the academics down
Ask whether the classroom is accredited, whether the teachers are certified and how credits move back. Vagueness here is expensive later.
Trust only what you can check
Every accreditation worth having can be confirmed with the body that issued it. If confirmation runs back through the facility, it is not confirmation.
Paying for care
Cost and insurance for Gilbert families: how residential care is funded.
Very few families pay a headline figure. Residential care runs through behavioral health benefits, and the only useful number is the one your insurer produces after an actual verification.
- 1You send your plan detailsTwo required fields, member ID optional. About a minute.
- 2We verify with your insurer directlyIn-network or out-of-network, free and confidential, usually the same day.
- 3You get the number in plain EnglishDeductible, out-of-pocket maximum and any prior authorisation, before you commit to anything.
- Meritain
- UMR
- + more
Out-of-network, or unsure what the plan says? Call anyway. Single case agreements and out-of-network benefits often cover a licensed group home placement.
- Free benefits check
Coverage numbers in about two minutes
See what your plan pays toward the group home program, in-network or out. Free, private, decides nothing.
Group home admissions
Admissions process: five steps, start to finish.
Our promise while you decide
- You set the pace, with no pressure to decide
- Clear answers to every clinical and financial question
- An honest recommendation, even if another program is the better fit
1
- Today · 24/7
- ~15 minutes
The first call
A licensed counselor hears what has been happening, what has been tried, and where your teen stands on safety, then gives a plain read on whether a therapeutic group home is the indicated level.
- Free and confidential; deciding comes later.
2
- Same day
- Free & confidential
Coverage, in writing
With your authorization we query the insurer directly and hand back the numbers, residential benefits, network status, and the realistic out-of-pocket.
- Most plans answer within the day, both network positions shown.
3
- Within 24 to 48 hrs
- Licensed clinicians
Clinical evaluation
A licensed clinician assesses the condition behind the placement, screens safety, reviews prior treatment, and recommends the level of care the findings support.
- School records and prior evaluations speed this step; bring what you have.
4
- Within days
- One coordinator
Preparing move-in
One named coordinator handles school records, current prescriptions, what to pack, and the arrival time, discreetly and in writing.
- Everything confirmed in writing, with the coordinator’s direct line.
5
- Day one
- Direct team contact
Move-in day, kept calm
A fixed arrival sequence, orientation, introductions, medications checked in with the prescriber, and your first family update on the calendar before you head home.
- From then on, consistent staff, weekly updates, and the posted schedule. See the daily structure
Inside the group home program
What the program includes: the full scope of care.
Every admission carries a treatment center’s clinical program inside a home’s setting. Each element below is reviewed weekly against measurable progress on the admitting condition.
Evaluation & individualized plan
A DSM-5 evaluation opens every stay, and an individualized treatment plan follows from the actual diagnoses rather than the loudest symptom.
Daily individual & group therapy
Licensed clinicians run CBT-based individual sessions and twice-daily groups, on the posted weekly schedule.
Psychiatric & medication care
A prescriber manages any medication with parents consulted at every change, and medication administration is supervised daily.
Weekly family therapy & Saturday group
Family involvement is built in as a requirement, weekly family therapy in person or by secure video, plus the Saturday Family Empowerment Group with other parents.
Accredited on-site school
Small classes with transferable credit keep the semester alive, coordinated with your district for the return.
Structured group living & life skills
Chef-prepared shared meals, chores, and life-skills practice, cooking, gardening, and time management, run as daily social training.
Equine, arts & outings
Friday equine therapy, art and music interventions, regular outings, and daily movement in the desert air.
Discharge & return plan
An outpatient team is booked near home, school re-entry is staged with your district, and the family plan is rehearsed before the drive back home, ensuring continuity.
- One clinical team on-site, therapy, psychiatry & school under each home’s roof, nothing contracted out
The treatment layer
Therapies used in the homes: CBT, TF-CBT, EMDR and family therapy.
Evidence reviews rate family-based therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy as the best-supported treatments for the conditions these homes admit. Residential living turns both from a weekly hour into daily practice, with TF-CBT and EMDR added where trauma drives the case.
1Individual CBT
Daily one-to-one work on the thoughts and triggers driving the admitting condition.
2Group therapy, twice daily
Clinician-led groups at 9:00 and 11:00, where the house itself becomes the practice ground.
3Weekly family therapy
In person for metro families, secure video beyond, rebuilding the system your teen returns to.
4Psychiatric & medication care
Prescriber-led medication management, supervised daily, inside the home rather than across town.
5Accredited academics
Credit-bearing classes on-site every weekday, coordinated with your district for re-entry.
6Equine & experiential
Friday equine sessions, art and music work, and regular outings, the structured outlets a house full of teenagers needs.
Daily schedule in the homes
Daily schedule: the weekday routine in full.
Both homes run the same posted rhythm, school, therapy, meals, movement and sleep, so a teen always knows what comes next.
7:00 - 8:00 amWake, hygiene & breakfast
Wake-up and hygiene at 7:00, then breakfast and medications from 7:30 to 8:00.
8:30 amGratitude journal
The day opens with a gratitude journal at 8:30, before the first group.
9:00 - 11:00 amClinical groups
Clinician-led group at 9:00, a snack at 10:45, then a second group at 11:00.
12:30 pmLunch & mindfulness
Lunch together at 12:30, run with a short mindfulness practice.
1:00 - 3:45 pmAccredited school
Education from 1:00, a snack at 2:15, then the second block through to 3:45.
4:00 - 5:00 pmNursing group & family calls
Nursing group runs 4:00 to 5:00, and the family phone window holds from 4:00 to 6:00.
5:00 - 7:00 pmDinner & evening activity
Dinner together at 5:00, then evening activity and medications from 6:00 to 7:00.
7:00 - 9:30 pmFree time & lights out
Free time to 8:30, evening routine, journal and electronics off at 9:00, lights out at 9:30.
Weekends run differently
Saturday and Sunday follow a lighter routine than the weekday schedule above, with the Saturday Family Empowerment Group for parents.
Schedule the free consultation Or call (480) 485-3424 and admissions walks you through a full weekend in the homes, answered 24/7.Awake clinical staff are on-site every hour, including overnight, in both Phoenix-metro homes.
The shape of a day
Daily life and house rules: rules, meals and earned privileges.
House rules govern chores, screens and lights-out, and the rhythm holds every day, meals together, school, downtime, a quiet close. Awake staff cover the night hours.
Chef-prepared meals & life skills
A dedicated kitchen team led by Chef Melissa Stockmar cooks the shared meals, and residents build life skills daily, cooking, gardening, cleaning, and time management.
Family contact, every day
The 4:00 to 6:00 PM phone window runs daily, weekly family therapy happens in person for metro families, and visits are scheduled with the clinical team.
Outings, equine & activities
Friday equine therapy, regular outings, and in-house activities from art and music work to game-room evenings, structure that feels like living, not confinement.
Parents stay central
Family therapy for Gilbert parents: sessions, parent group, daily calls.
Twenty-three miles keeps family work physical rather than remote. Weekly sessions happen in the room, the 4:00 to 6:00 PM call window runs every day, and visits get scheduled with the clinical team instead of planned around a long journey.
Licensed clinical team
Clinical staff: named, licensed, registry-verifiable.
Licensed clinicians and a psychiatric prescriber run the program. Every Arizona license below is verifiable in the AZBBHE registry, and the house team running education, family services and meals follows in the same row.
LPC, BC-TMHHannah Carr-Unquera
Executive Director
Leads the clinical program across both homes, licensed in Arizona and board certified in telemental health.
LCSW, DSWDr. Tyler White
Director of Adolescent Clinical Services
Sets the treatment plan each resident’s team works to, and supervises the clinicians who deliver it.
DNP, PMHNP-BCAlexandria Penner
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
Runs psychiatric evaluation and medication management on-site, so prescribing stays inside the house.
House teamAshley Daniels
Director of Family Services & Education
Runs family services and education across both homes, after directing theatre and teen programs and building liberal-arts residential summer camps for Mount Holyoke College and Bryn Mawr College.
House teamJennifer Inderberg
Education Supervisor
Twenty-five years in education, supervising the accredited school that runs inside each house and the credit transfers back to your district.
House teamMelissa Stockmar
Director of Food Operations
Leads the kitchen team behind the chef-prepared meals, and runs the cooking group where residents learn to feed themselves.
Arizona-licensed clinical team. Every clinician running the homes is licensed in Arizona. Verify any license in the AZBBHE public registry.
Verified parent reviews
Google reviews: in families' own words.
4.7/ 5
Read them all on Google★★★★★
“Nexus Teen Academy was a wonderful place for my daughter. The staff were amazing and so supportive. They worked with our entire family. Highly recommend.”
★★★★★
“I highly recommend Nexus Teen Academy. The structure, support, and care they provided made a significant impact on my child, and it was also maintainable post-residency. During the residency, I attended a parent group led by the therapists who worked with the kids; where we learned critical skills and distinctions which helped with life afterward. It was also great to be in contact with other parents during this time, and the parenting group was great for this.”
★★★★★
“My daughter was referred here after her various visits to psychiatric hospitals.I was so scared to be apart from my child but Nexus made me feel better about my decision because of their loving and welcoming environment. I love everything about this place, they really love the kids and support parents along the way. I appreciate everyone that loved and supported my child while she was at her lowest. I recommend this place to anyone that may feel like they have tried all they can and they do not know what to do next because Nexus will help you with the next steps in your journey.”
★★★★★
“I would like to share that we had a great experience at Nexus Teen Academy. All of the staff is great with communication and assisted us through the process. I am very grateful for all of the resources, help and treatment for my teen throughout their stay. The have an amazing team and would recommend to anyone who needs the help.”
These come straight from our public Google Business Profile, anyone can read all 34 and add their own.
The step after
Discharge and aftercare for Gilbert teens: outpatient handover and school re-entry.
The discharge plan is written early, in the first fortnight. It names the step-down level, the outpatient clinician taking over in the East Valley, the prescriber continuing medication, and the day school expects your teen back.
Related reading
Teen mental health guides: depression, anxiety, PTSD, self-harm.
These guides cover the conditions that bring most Gilbert families to a therapeutic group home, written by the clinicians who run the houses. Every guide names the treatment the condition responds to, and each links through to the residential program that delivers it.
Teen depression
The most common reason Gilbert families call about placement.
Read the guide →Anxiety in teens
Where school refusal and panic attacks come from.
Read the guide →Teen PTSD
How trauma symptoms present during adolescence.
Read the guide →Teen self-harm
Supervision and treatment working at the same time.
Read the guide →Teen substance use
When use becomes a reason for residential care.
Read the guide →Group therapy for teens
What clinician-led group work actually involves.
Read the guide →Every guide names the treatment the condition responds to, and each links through to the residential program that delivers it.
The statewide picture
Arizona teen mental health, the statewide picture
Adolescent depression and anxiety have risen sharply across Arizona, and for a growing number of families weekly outpatient therapy is no longer enough. The state’s own data shows why a middle level of care, residential treatment, exists.
4 in 10
Arizona high-schoolers reported their mental health was not good most or all of the time.
3 in 10
Seriously considered suicide, and about 1 in 10 attempted.
97%
Rise in adolescent depression diagnoses in Arizona, 2016 to 17 to 2020 to 21.
55%
Rise in anxiety diagnoses over the same period.
Arizona’s 988 and Teen Lifeline lines meet the emergency, but a crisis call is stabilization, not ongoing treatment.
Residential care is the step between outpatient therapy and the hospital, the middle is what has been missing.
Sources: Arizona Department of Health Services, Adolescent Mental Health Report; Arizona Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2021); National Survey of Children’s Health.
Talk to an Arizona counselor, 24/7Gilbert questions
Gilbert parent FAQ: length of stay, school, visits.
Gilbert answers
Quiet questions parents here ask
Privacy, credits, cost and the drive, put plainly, because most Gilbert families are weighing this without telling anyone yet.
The admissions line takes questions with no file opened and no follow-up unless you ask for one.
Call and talk it throughAnswered 24/7 at (480) 485-3424Privacy & proximity
Google Maps puts Oak, the boys’ residence in north Scottsdale, at 23.5 miles and about 30 minutes from Gilbert via the Loop 101. Mesquite, the girls’ house in Cave Creek, is 48.1 miles and roughly an hour.
Nothing identifies the houses from outside, no signage, no branding, no uniforms. Staff do not discuss residents beyond the clinical team, and records are held to the same confidentiality any Arizona behavioral health provider works under.
Yes. The daily 4:00 to 6:00 PM window is for family, not just parents, and sibling contact is written into the family plan where the clinical team judges it helpful.
Not automatically. The words describe a setting. Whether treatment happens inside depends on the license the house holds and whether clinicians are employed there or brought in occasionally.
They are. Boys live at Oak, girls at Mesquite, both 12 to 17, with separate staff teams and separate buildings.
No. Admission is clinical and arranged by a parent or legal guardian. The state runs its own licensed group-home network through contracted providers, and admissions will send a caseworker there rather than accept a placement out of lane.
The programme itself
Coursework carries on in an accredited on-site classroom with certified teachers. Records transfer both ways and the academic coordinator works to the sending school’s requirements, so the teen comes back into their own year rather than repeating it.
Through behavioral health benefits in most cases. Send the plan details, the insurer is queried directly, and the deductible, out-of-pocket maximum and any prior authorisation come back in writing before you decide anything.
Depression, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, self-harm and suicidal thinking, mood instability and co-occurring substance use, handled as one clinical picture rather than passed between programmes.
Usually thirty to ninety days, set clinically and reviewed as the picture shifts. Aftercare is designed in the opening fortnight so the return home is planned, not sudden.
Within days where the fit is right and coverage clears. Nothing in the evaluation is skipped to shorten it.
Licensing & crisis
Search AZDHS’s provider registry for Nexus Teen Academy, confirm the Joint Commission accreditation at qualitycheck.org, and check the LegitScript certification directly. Each credential leads back to whoever issued it.
Safety comes first. Call or text 988 or go to the nearest emergency department; Mercy Gilbert is close by. Hospital stabilisation happens first, and admissions schedules the transfer so treatment begins the day your teen is discharged.
Families further out
Placement across Arizona: families travel from across Arizona.
Because both houses sit centrally in Maricopa County, almost every Arizona family is within a day’s drive. Admissions answers at any hour.
From beyond the Valley
Count roughly two hours from Tucson via I-10, 2½ hours from Flagstaff down I-17, 90 minutes from Prescott, and three hours from Yuma on I-8, with Sierra Vista and Lake Havasu City close behind.
Family sessions by secure video
When the drive is long, the weekly family session runs over secure video, and arrivals route through Phoenix Sky Harbor for out-of-metro and out-of-state families.
The return, arranged locally
Before discharge we book an outpatient team near your home and stage school re-entry with your district, whether that is a Valley district, Tucson Unified, or Flagstaff Unified.
Oak · boys’ group home, North Scottsdale
8611 E Cholla St, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Admissions 24/7
Mesquite · girls’ group home, Cave Creek
2695 E Saddle Mountain Rd, Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Admissions 24/7
See a center on the map
Tap Cave Creek or Scottsdale below to load its interactive map right here.
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Explore each Nexus Teen Academy home
Scottsdale (boys)
North Scottsdale, 85260 · off Loop 101
Cave Creek (girls)
Saddle Mountain Rd, 85331 · 20 min north
Phoenix metro
Served from both centers
Yuma & SW Arizona
Travel, telehealth & aftercare