At the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tanya Stuart noticed that many families in Louisiana seeking residential treatment centers had to leave the state to get their children the help they needed.
Children who needed support for issues related to mental health, substance abuse and eating disorders could not find help nearby.
“We would send them across state lines because there was nothing in Louisiana,” Stuart said. “They’d come back, do great for like weeks, and then go right back into the same patterns.”
Stuart decided to fill the need. After starting The Maples in August 2021 for adolescent girls ages 13-18, the organization grew. The original site in Baton Rouge, which started with 12 beds, now has a waitlist of over 30. To meet demand, the organization opened a second location in Hammond, Louisiana.
For the next expansion, The Maples looked to Tarrant County.
The Maples’ Fort Worth-area facility opened in April 2025. Unlike the other two locations in the Bayou State, the new facility in Crowley at 10805 W. Cleburne Road focuses on treating girls with eating disorders. The residential center was viewed as the next step for the organization, which now serves families from 36 states.
Stuart said the state provided the necessary infrastructure needed for that type of specialized care.
The outside facade of The Maples’ Tarrant County location at 10805 W. Cleburne Road. (Courtesy photo | The Maples)
“What I find in Texas is that you guys are saturated with dietitians and doctors who have that expertise, and I wanted to get quality people,” she said.
The Fort Worth-area location has space for 24 teenagers, but currently has about 18 girls on the campus, said Chalee Rivers, administrator for the Crowley treatment center. In less than a year, about two dozen girls have graduated from the program.
Alongside art, music, yoga and equine therapy, The Maples has dietitians, chefs and therapists on-site for patients.
What makes The Maples stand out from other residential treatment centers is required parental involvement. Parents who join the program must participate in 3-5 hours of family counseling each week, Stuart said. The Maples also requires regular meetings with the staff nurse and encourages visitation, even if via video call.
“You can’t just treat the kid. You have to treat the family,” Stuart said. “Or this is just babysitting your kid.”
The family-centered support — alongside the lower costs compared to the average — has allowed The Maples to grow.
With that growth has come success, Stuart said. Over 86% of patients from the two Louisiana facilities in 2025 self-reported no substance abuse two months after discharge. National rates for relapses in adolescents sits above 60%, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Those rates don’t include recidivism for eating disorders at the Fort Worth facility. But Rivers noted that, despite the specialized focus, The Maples still looks at each teenager as a whole.
“When they leave, they’re an entirely different human,” Rivers said. “The outcomes are just different when it’s that holistic approach.”
And with the family involvement, parents are able to support their children because of the training given through The Maples.
“They have hope. They feel like they’re prepared for their kids to come home,” Stuart said.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
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