This brief examines sub-acute residential mental health services — also known as Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) services or Step-Up/Step-Down (SU/SD) facilities — as a growing and evidence-based component of Australia's mental health system. It summarises Australian and international research evidence on service effectiveness, consumer and carer experiences, scalability modelling, and implementation challenges across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. Practical implementation guidelines are provided across system, service, and individual levels, with recommendations drawn from a PARC study in Victoria.