Outward Bound won't take such a kid unless the kid wants to go, and a therapist recommends it. They do have a trek for kids who are "at risk" but it will not do a mental patient any good; or a kid who is incompliant. They have to want it, for it to help.
You might wanyt to consider getting your daughter a mental health evaluation. You can petition the school to provide it, as she is having so much trouble. They are federally mandated to provide an education to your daughter - and as she is having such a problem they can be forced to provide the needed evaluations.
You should call your state capital's education dept. and request Special Education advocate. You will need their help in pressuring the schools system to comply.
Once you get her evaluated (assuming they find she has any kind of mental disorder)she will be eligible for an IEP. You can then insist the state find her a RTC where she can be educated and receive therapy. You might find you will need to make her a ward of the state - but this does NOT mean you will be surrendering parental rights. That's a lie they tell you to get you to back off.
They will tell you many lies trying to get you to back off and go away. So, you will need to educate yourself in regard to the federal mandates and your rights as a parent and her rights as a child. You will need to be able to ague effectively and stand your ground. This is not an easy process. States have a category for families that need this state placement, but through no fault of their own. It is NOT the same as having the state take your child. What they call it, varies from state to state, but they all have it. It is used when a family is unable to keep a child safe in their home through no fault of their own - and this seems to apply to you.
The first step here, is to file a beyond control petition. You can do this with out having the IEP in place. In fact, it may result in getting you a social worker who can help force the schools to comply. Also, it can result in the state ordering a mental evaluation and paying for it or charging you based on the slidding scale. You'll get a court date and the judge will assign you a social worker. If your lucky they will be good at the job; and if unlucky they will be lazy liars. But again, they are state employees and you can file complaints that will have an effect.
When you file the petition, and when you go to court - have with you all the writes ups from the school; and any records from her therapist. You are probably entitled to one free copy of her records. So, if she is still seeing someone don't request a copy of her file until they quite seeing her - but do get a copy of her file from everyone she sees - and keep it in a safe place. A safe deposit box is best. Same with each and every write she gets at school. You will need to to prove she needs help that you can not provide in the home. Simply having a business card from all the therapist to line up and say we saw this one, and this one, and this one - can be effective in getting the judged to see you need a greater level of help than a family is able to provide.
Now - Maybe she doesn't need an RTC - but it sounds like maybe she does. Please do Not make the mistake of thinking you will get better care from a private paid, private owned program, than you can from the state operated programs. This is a massively inaccurate notion many people have.
The state run facilities are crowded and hard to get into. They do have incompetent staff. No doubt the also have mean and hurtful people on staff. But they Do also have competent and caring people; and more importantly - they do have LOTS of oversight! If your child is mismanaged or mistreated you can file a complaint and find it effective. None of this is so if you go the private route.
Also, in the state paid and operated RTCs they must have the individual plan in place and they can be watched to make sure they follow it. So that your child receives therapy appropriate for what ever it is that ails her.
In these private places no such individuality of treatment (or even personhood) exist. If their treatment modality does not meet your daughter's needs, her needs will not be met - and she will come out far, far worse then she went in. This is Especially true if she does in fact have a mental disorder!
If your a family with money, the sate may require to pick up part of the tab. They run it on a sliding scale. I believe you'll find it will be far less than these private run hell holes.
You might consider moving on this ASAP. It is a slow process. You can expedite it if you are firm and unrelenting. If you are quite and patient they will forget all about you.
All this being said - some statre operate boot camps and the results can be tragic. Again, you MUST educate yourself so you know what kind of therapy is useful for your daughters situation. Harsh and punitve treatment will only make her much worse. You must be able to explain this and demand something more along the lines of true mental health care.
One last thing - *if* your daughter is mentally ill, you will need to be prepaired to help her deal with the social service system for years to come. All these records I mention can be very important in applying for SSI and food stamps and housing - So get them and protect them, in case you need them in the furture to get your daughter continuing help.
* [ This Message was edited by: BuzzKill on 2006-05-02 07:35 ]
