Connections for Kids

Connections for Kids is an addiction-treatment facility located in South Portland, ME. The facility's programming is outpatient (Outpatient, Dual Dx), not residential. What follows is an orientation — not a review — to the practical questions worth asking before admission.

Care levels at Connections for Kids

Connections for Kids is an outpatient-focused program (Outpatient, Dual Dx) — patients live at home or in sober living and attend treatment sessions. This level of care is clinically appropriate for mild-to-moderate substance use disorder, or for patients stepping down from residential. The useful move is to have an ASAM-aligned assessment done before admission — ideally by someone outside the facility's admissions team — to confirm that the level of care offered here is what the clinical picture calls for.

Insurance and payment

Connections for Kids accepts both Medicaid and commercial insurance, which is the broadest payer profile and typically correlates with programs that operate at scale across the economic spectrum. What tends to produce post-admission financial surprise is not the facility being out of network — it is the verbal assurance that did not make it into writing. Ask for the written VOB before admission, save the email, and the rest of the financial conversation becomes a lot simpler.

Specialty programming

The facility's documented specialty programming includes: Young adults, Clients who have experienced trauma, Persons with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The specialty question rewards specific follow-up: what clinicians provide the specialty content, what their credentials are, what percentage of weekly programming is specialty-specific vs. general programming.

Before you call

Before admission to Connections for Kids, three questions consistently produce the most useful information: (1) which ASAM level of care are you treating me at, and what is the clinical rationale; (2) can you send me a written Verification of Benefits for my specific insurance plan; (3) what is your policy on medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder — specifically, do you continue patients on buprenorphine or methadone during residential programming. If the clinical situation involves opioid use disorder, confirm explicitly whether Connections for Kids offers medication-assisted treatment — buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone. Programs that do not are operating outside the current standard of care.