Reno, Nev. residential psychiatric home draws numerous complaints after opening last year

A residential psychiatric facility opened in a northwest Reno, Nevada neighborhood in 2023. Neighbors the year before that said they feared the worst when construction on an addition to the home began. To their surprise, they learned the property was designated as a treatment home for youth struggling with severe mental illness.

“Sai Residential Treatment Center offers a safe and comfortable treatment program for teens in our community. All residents will live in a beautiful home-like setting in order to foster a sense of safety in their treatment journey,” company representatives said in a paid article last year on This Is Reno.

Neighbors were criticized two years ago by numerous people online for opposing the location of the facility. People condemned what they called NIMBY-ism and ableist attitudes by the neighbors expressing their concerns.

Since opening, however, the home has been the source of numerous police, fire and REMSA calls, and the residents said the home, called the Strong Minds Residential Treatment Center, has turned their neighborhood into a nightmare.

Jill Stockton, who spoke to This Is Reno in May of 2022 about the facility—which had not yet opened—said the youth patients claim they are being abused. 911 calls obtained by This Is Reno show that patients have threatened suicide, may have had access to weapons, and there have been runaways from the home on a number of occasions.

A steady stream of police, fire and emergency medical service calls has disrupted what residents say was once a quiet neighborhood with minimal police presence.

Read the full story on thisisreno.com.

Video by Michelle Baker. Additional video footage provided by Jill Stockton and other Reno residents.