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Messages - vx15i

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The Troubled Teen Industry / Getting a friend out of rehab?
« on: August 31, 2005, 11:08:00 AM »
She's fine, made it here yesterday.

Don't really have time now for an update, I'll let you guys know what happened later.

Thanks for all your help.

2
The Troubled Teen Industry / Getting a friend out of rehab?
« on: August 29, 2005, 12:39:00 PM »
OK.

It's kinda weird, I don't fully understand what happened, but...

Apparently The Village had stopped returning my mail, and just started opening it, reading it, and keeping it.

So, they read my 'escape' letters (which, BTW, were very detailed and included maps).  

For whatever reason, and I'm not entirely sure why, the counselors were 'concerned', and last night (Sunday) they all called 'Suzy' into a meeting.

They showed her the letters, and let her keep them.  Why, again, I'm not sure, all I got out Suzy was they were 'concerned'.  They also called her adoptive mother, who apparently threw a fit.  

They gave her the letters, but were not concerned with her leaving, because they had her ID locked up.

That didn't stop Suzy, who read my letters carefully, and decided to follow my plan.  She STOLE her ID back (not sure how), secretly packed up most of her belongings late last night, stayed up all night, and at 6am, left The Village without telling anyone but a handful of her friends who noticed her packing.

She went to the Western Union (a very short distance away) and picked up the money.  That's when I got the auto email from WU telling me the money was collected.  She went to the nearby Hospital (across the street) to hang out and call a cab (per my plan).  

That's when she noticed there were police at The Village.  They called the cops on her!  

I'm guessing she is considered 'missing', which may not be such a good idea.  I didn't think she could just 'walk out' without anyone knowing, so I didn't include that part in my 'detailed' plan.  Not sure if it is for better or worse.

She took a cab to the bus station, purchased a ticket, and called me at 8:30am.

The bus leaves shortly, but I haven't heard from her since then.  Either she is still at the bus station waiting, or the cops found her, and for some reason took her back.  I doubt that, since like I said, she is not under court order to attend rehab.  But, you never know with the police.

Right now she has nothing, as she only had a small amount of stuff with her and had to leave some stuff behind at rehab.

I'm going to give her a place to stay and some spending money, buy her some clothes and whatever else 18 year old girls need.  She is very frugal anyway, as her adoptive mother pretty much neglected her and she never had much.  

She should have no problems getting a job, as there is a large mall within walking distance.  The only problem is I work very long hours, so I am not going to be around much to help.  Hopefully she can make some friends at work.

In any case, she is very popular with her friends parents back home (she is a really sweet kid), so I know she already has a few places lined up to live wherever she decides to go.  I'm thinking she can stay here until she saves money, then go back home to stay with friends, and finish her HS diploma.

From what she told me, she was a model resident at The Village, never caused problems unlike the other kids.  They were supposed to move her to the adult center when she turned 18, but never did.  That might have been dangerous for her.

She also told me her mothers insurance was paying for her 'treatment'.

So, I can imagine: model resident + insurance =  easy money.

I'm going to take her to a lawyer, and maybe we can write a letter to the insurance company.[ This Message was edited by: vx15i on 2005-08-29 09:41 ]

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The Troubled Teen Industry / Getting a friend out of rehab?
« on: August 29, 2005, 08:09:00 AM »
Something really strange just happened.

A month ago, I sent her $300 via Western Union and a letter to the Village telling her about it, with directions where to pick it up and directions to the bus station.

Since my letters have all been returned, I assumed she never got it and forgot about it, but sent a few extra letters with the same info just in case.

Well, she JUST picked up the money!  30 minutes ago.  I'm not sure what is going on, and I have to go to work, but I'll let you know later.

[ This Message was edited by: vx15i on 2005-08-29 05:10 ][ This Message was edited by: vx15i on 2005-08-29 05:10 ]

4
The Troubled Teen Industry / Getting a friend out of rehab?
« on: August 26, 2005, 08:24:00 AM »
I appreciate everyones advice so far.  Thank you.

I will certainly provide an update after everything is over and I'm back home.

5
The Troubled Teen Industry / Getting a friend out of rehab?
« on: August 24, 2005, 08:52:00 PM »
A friend of mine (lets call her Suzy) had a Marchman act filed against her by her adoptive mother.  FYI, a Marchman act allows someone to be involuntarily taken into custody to be evaluated for drug and alcohol abuse, based SOLELY on the affidavit filed by the person (i.e., you don?t need proof).

?Suzy? was arrested and held for two weeks (although the Marchman act specifies only 5 days).  She was released, but NOT court ordered to undergo treatment, because there was nothing wrong with her.  She has never done a drug in her life, has never had any problems with the law, nor has she ever had any treatment.  She was, however, experimenting with alcohol, which she admitted to, so they convinced her to ?voluntarily? attend residential rehab.  She was 17 at the time.

She called me up, extremely upset obviously (she is a good kid, has never caused problems), and told me what happened and asked for help.  She told me her adoptive mother was going to take her to residential treatment, and it was going to last for 6-12 months.  I really had no idea what to do, but contacted a lawyer for her.  Unfortunately, before she could get into contact with the lawyer, her mother took her to a place called ?The Village? in Miami.  The lawyer said there was nothing he could do, since she has not retained him.  No other lawyers even wanted to have anything to do with it.

A few months later, on her 18th B-day, I sent several letters (with stamped envelopes) to the various addresses I found online, and one managed to get to her.  I received a phone call from her ?Family Therapist? (lets call him Bob) who told me Suzy did not want me to write her anymore!  I was shocked, because she had begged me for help just a few months prior.

Turns out, ?Bob? was lying.  A couple days later I received a letter from Suzy, written a couple days before Bob called, telling me she was fine and being treated well, and she asked me specifically to write back.  I immediately wrote back, but the letter was marked ?return to sender?.  I sent several more letters, and one managed to get through, but the rest have been sent back.  I received one more letter from her, telling me she wants to leave but she is only going up to ?level 2? soon (after all these months), and that they don?t even begin to talk about leaving until ?level 3?.

The problem is, she thinks she is legally obligated to stay there, she has no idea she can leave.  Even if she knew she could leave, where can she go?  Her adoptive mother has basically abandoned her, she has no money, lost her job, and was not able to get her HS diploma.

So, I decided to go pick her up.  Unfortunately, this is no small task.  I live over 12 hours away in Georgia.  I can?t just drive down there any time I want.  We have a four day weekend coming up, and I?ve reserved a rental car in anticipation of going to get her.

I know exactly where she is staying, have directions, maps, and even satellite photos from google.

The problem is, what is going to happen when I get there?  Will they let me even talk to her?  Will they call the cops?  Will they let me take her?  Will she even leave, she may chicken out and be too scared? who knows what they have said to her.

Basically, what I am asking is, anyone out there have any clue, advice, anything?  Anyone do anything like this before?  Anybody know the legalities?

Thanks.
[ This Message was edited by: vx15i on 2005-08-24 17:56 ]

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