Most teen mental health content online is paid for, directly or indirectly, by treatment programs. We want you to know how Hartley is different — and where the limits of our independence sit.
How Hartley is funded
Hartley is reader-supported. We do not currently sell advertising, accept program sponsorships, or take placement fees from treatment providers. We do not receive compensation from any treatment program, facility, or referral company in exchange for editorial coverage.
Our current operating costs are covered without revenue from the categories above. If our funding model changes — for example, if we add a paid newsletter membership, accept sponsorships from non-conflicted partners, or develop other revenue streams — this page will be updated before the change takes effect.
What we will not accept
The following will not appear on Hartley regardless of the financial offer:
- Sponsored content from treatment programs, facilities, or programs that refer to facilities
- Affiliate revenue tied to admissions or referrals to treatment
- Placement fees for appearing in directory or "best of" content
- Compensation from educational consultants in exchange for coverage
- Compensation from interventionists, lawyers, or other professionals in exchange for editorial mention
- Display advertising from treatment programs or behavioral health adjacent businesses
This list is not exhaustive. The principle is simple: if accepting money from a party would create a conflict between Hartley's editorial judgment and the reader's interests, we don't accept it.
What we may accept in the future
Some categories of revenue are compatible with reader-first editorial. We may explore these in the future, and if we do, we will disclose them clearly:
- A paid newsletter or membership program where readers fund deeper coverage
- Sponsorships from partners who do not have financial relationships with treatment programs (for example, mental health technology platforms not used in residential treatment, financial services for families navigating treatment costs, parent education companies)
- Affiliate revenue from non-conflicted products (books, parent education resources)
- Foundation or grant funding from organizations whose mission aligns with reader-first behavioral health journalism
- Speaking fees or consulting income for the editor's work outside of Hartley
We will not pursue any of these in ways that compromise editorial independence. Sponsorships will be clearly labeled. Affiliate links will be disclosed. Grants will be listed publicly with the funder named.
Editorial conflicts of interest
People who write and edit for Hartley come from various backgrounds, including some with prior or current professional ties to behavioral health. We treat these ties as something to disclose, not something to hide. The principle: insider knowledge, when transparent, is a feature; insider knowledge, when concealed, is a problem.
At the article level:
- Writers disclose any prior or current employment with treatment programs (within the last five years).
- Writers disclose financial relationships with programs they cover (consulting, board service, ownership stakes).
- Writers disclose immediate family members employed by programs they cover.
- Writers disclose personal experience as a parent, alum, or family member when writing about a specific program or modality.
Writers with disclosed conflicts may still write on a topic, but the editorial review for those articles is more rigorous, and the disclosure appears prominently in the byline.
Editorial leadership and outside professional activity
Hartley's editorial leadership brings prior and continuing professional experience in adjacent fields, including behavioral health. We treat this as something to manage transparently rather than something to obscure.
Two structural protections apply:
No member of Hartley's editorial leadership writes or edits coverage of a treatment program, facility, or organization with which they have a current or recent operational relationship — or of that organization's direct competitors. Editorial decisions about coverage in those categories are routed through editors without the conflict, or the coverage doesn't run.
When a Hartley article touches on a topic where a writer or editor has a relevant professional relationship — current or within the prior five years — that relationship is disclosed at the article level, in the byline.
Hartley itself does not currently receive compensation from any treatment program, facility, or referral company. If that changes, this page will be updated before the change takes effect, and the relationship will be disclosed clearly on any affected article.
Members of editorial leadership may have outside professional roles that are unrelated to Hartley's coverage. Where those roles don't create a conflict with specific coverage, they aren't itemized here for the ordinary editorial-staff-privacy reasons most publications observe — the same reason most publications don't list every employee's full résumé. Where a role does create a potential conflict with a specific piece of coverage, it appears on this page or on the affected article.
Affiliate links and recommendations
Hartley does not currently use affiliate links of any kind. If we add affiliate links in the future (for example, to recommended books or non-conflicted services), we will:
- Disclose the relationship clearly on the affected article and on this page
- Use affiliate links only for products and services we would recommend without compensation
- Never use affiliate links for treatment programs, treatment-adjacent services, or referral relationships
Privacy and reader data
Hartley collects minimal reader data. We do not sell reader data. We do not share reader data with treatment programs or marketing companies. We use basic analytics to understand which articles are reaching readers and where readers come from. Readers who subscribe to the newsletter provide us with an email address; we will not share that email address with any third party, and readers can unsubscribe at any time.
Our full privacy practices are available on our privacy page.
Coverage of specific programs
When Hartley writes about a specific treatment program, four things are always true:
- The program did not pay for, sponsor, or otherwise compensate Hartley for the coverage.
- The program was offered the opportunity to respond to specific factual claims before publication.
- The article links to publicly verifiable sources for any factual claims made.
- If anyone involved in the article (writer, editor, reviewer) has a current or recent professional relationship with the program or its direct competitors, that relationship is disclosed in the byline. If the relationship is operational rather than incidental, the article is reassigned or doesn't run.
This applies to favorable coverage and critical coverage equally. We do not run "best of" lists ranking treatment programs. We do not maintain a directory that implies endorsement.
What we'll tell you when things change
This page is the source of truth for how Hartley is funded and how editorial decisions are made. Material changes — new revenue streams, new conflicts, changes in editorial leadership, changes in our policies on AI or sponsored content — will appear here first.
We will not change these policies quietly. If a change happens, we will note it in the page's update log at the bottom and, for significant changes, in our newsletter.
How to hold us accountable
If you believe we've violated any of the policies on this page, please tell us. Email corrections@thehartley.org with the specific concern and any relevant article URLs. We respond within five business days.
For more on how Hartley works, see editorial standards and medical review.
Update log
May 2026 — Initial publication of disclosures policy.