See more of the story

Even under the best of circumstances, parenting teenagers is one of life's most challenging tasks. But it becomes immeasurably more difficult when normal outbursts and growing pains are accompanied by mental illness, severe behavioral problems or chemical dependency.

The correct response from family and friends is compassion. Psychiatric disorders and addiction respect no social or economic boundaries. Any family could find itself in need of social services. That's why the accumulating evidence — provided recently by two praiseworthy examples of public-service journalism — of disturbing gaps in state assistance for struggling teens and their families should have all Minnesotans demanding better.

It is in everyone's best interest if kids who have not committed a crime are kept in community-based settings for treatment. Minnesota has significantly reduced the overall number of children in juvenile detention since the 1980s. Still, it appears that too many children who need social services are instead winding up in facilities licensed by an agency with a very different mission: the state Department of Corrections.

An Aug. 7 Star Tribune story put an alarming spotlight on this practice. In it, a 17-year-old girl with depression and behavioral problems alleged that she had been shackled and injured when she was thrown to the floor by staff at a 28-bed facility called the Anoka County Non-Secure Program. It is operated by the Anoka County Corrections Department and serves kids from up to 14 counties.

The newspaper story comes after a troubling investigation by APM Reports that revealed maltreatment allegations at another juvenile facility — Mesabi Academy in Buhl, Minn. This spring, the academy's nonprofit owner announced its closure.

Learning that young people who haven't been charged with a crime but who are in need of medical care may wind up in a correctional facility likely came as a jolt to Minnesotans. The alleged maltreatment is even more unsettling, particularly for families who face an out-of-home placement for their child.

Last week, an Anoka County spokeswoman said officials are limited by privacy concerns from providing further detail about the 17-year-old girl's injuries. However, the spokeswoman said that staff members undergo extensive training and do not carry handcuffs or restraints. The implication: They rely first on de-escalation and resort to restraints only after other techniques fail. The APM Reports series also noted that Anoka County juvenile detention facilities, which include secure living quarters, had zero complaints about conditions or care from 2009 to 2016. Mesabi Academy had 64.

This information is important but certainly does not ease concerns about delivering human services for nondelinquent children with complex mental health conditions in a correctional facility. Unfortunately, alternatives are lacking. Beds are already too limited in community-based centers. These facilities also may not accept kids with extreme behavioral problems. Facilities licensed by corrections, while far from ideal, accept the kids that other programs won't.

A facility that is a step up from community centers but a step down from corrections programs is needed. It is to Minnesota's credit that efforts are already underway to establish this important alternative. In 2015, Minnesota lawmakers passed a measure authorizing $6.6 million over two years to create Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF), the name given the new care option. It is expected that 150 such beds will be available by 2018.

That is an admirable step but one that still falls well short of the need. A 2014 survey by the Minnesota Association of County Social Services Administrators found that 385 young people fit the profile for a PRTF. That number has likely risen since then. The 150 new PRTF beds will help, but they fall short by more than half in meeting this demand. Gov. Mark Dayton's new mental health task force has begun to meet. Finding a solution for youths who need a PRTF but will remain unserved should be marked urgent on its agenda.