Transcript of phone conversation with Ed Con Elizabeth Hall
Hello.
***Deborah, this is Elizabeth Hall.
Hold on one second Elizabeth. Okay, thank you for returning my call. We haven?t talked before but I know that you made a referral for my son XXXX, back in November.
***Yes.
I?m just wanting to know how that placement was conducted. You don?t do the assessments, do you?
***No. I don?t do the assessments.
Do you know who did the assessment for XXXX?
***Ugh, Deborah, I don?t remember now. Ugh, What, is there some problem with it? I thought that things were working out fine.
Well, what I know to date, is that Hidden Lake is not licensed by the State of Georgia. And I do have some problems with that. They will be soon, as I understand, but they haven?t been in the past. Another concern is that a preplacement evaluation should have been done. And I guess I thought that you may have done that, but as I understand now that you?re probably just the placement agency.
***Uh huh.
[Therapist] may know if a preplacement evaluation was done.
***Ugh huh.
Okay.
***Ugh, how do you, what is your response to, have you been in touch with XXXX?
I?ve had minimal contact with him, yes.
***Ugh huh.
Since he?s been there we?ve talked on the phone, usually once a week. And I saw him for 36 hours in March.
***Ugh huh. And how did you think he seemed?
I?m very concerned about him. They use behavior modification, and I didn?t... I was not pleased with how he appeared in March. He was very different. He?s usually very confident and outgoing and decisive. He didn?t make eye contact with people in public and avoided making decisions, and, was extremely anxious about making mistakes. Very self critical. And lethargic and, I think the thing that really broke my heart was, I reached over to hold his hand and, it was kind of limp and he said...he asked me not to show him any love or affection; that it was too confusing. So, my observations were very upsetting. And I expressed those to the school and no one responded to my concern. So, I...
***Who have you talked with there, Deborah?
XXXX?s counselor, that?s L**** B***.
***I?m sorry, now who was that?
L**** B***. And normally what I do is just email, because the Headmaster does not take phone calls from parents. So, I was asked to report how the visit went in March, and I sent that to the school and expressed my concerns. And it wasn?t addressed.
***And did, no one respond at all?
No.
***Well, do you mean, that they didn?t even acknowledge your call?
It wasn?t a call,
***I mean they didn?t acknowledge your email?
Right.
***Ugh huh.
I have some other concerns about the school. For instance, the diet that the children are fed when they?re on restriction. Are you familiar with that?
***No. I don?t, I?m not familiar with that. What I know about the school is mostly positive, is all positive actually. Cause, ugh, ugh Dr. Len Buchalante who is the ugh, is the head of the school, ugh the founder of the school, is a highly regarded psychologist..... And, he?s the one who started the school..... And, ugh, he is so highly regarded that ugh, so that, I guess that?s where the confidence calls for what?s going on there. And, I?ve had ugh, some students in the past who have gone there and who have benefited from it. And I knew, I?ve just ugh, and many ugh, Independent Education Consultants, ugh use it because, of the kind of positive ugh, results that, you know...
The feedback you get from your clients?
***And the feedback is all positive, ugh huh. So, that?s ugh, of ugh, I guess I?ve never had any negative feedback from there. From the pa-, from the clients.
So as an Educational Consultant, are you at all concerned with, whether or not a school is licensed?
***Yes, we are. But we know that when the school is getting, becoming licensed that there ugh, that we understand that there is that period of time in that. And I understand that....
Well, they?re only going to be required to be licensed because I reported them. They?ve been operating for 7 years without a license. As a Therapeutic facility. And, some of these concerns that I have expressed to you, would not be happening if they were licensed.
***Some...you know I received something recently from them, and I, I, I need to check that out, and go back and re-read it, ugh about they are, they have now been licensed by the State of Georgia.
Well, I?ve been working with the Office of Regulatory Services for a month now. Are you thinking maybe about their application for accreditation through SACS?
***I, I don?t know, I want, I have to go back and re-read that information.
They are, right now applying to SACS. That?s the Southern Assoc. of Colleges and Schools. I know that that is in progress for them, but that?s for the academic aspect of their program, not the therapeutic.
So, I guess that?s the information I want you to know from me and if it?s a concern for you in terms of referring. It appears that they will be required to be licensed. ORS is in the process of working with them to do that. Perhaps, in the near future they will be licensed. I think that that was all. When I first placed the call I was thinking that you did assessment. Most of my questions are about the assessment. Who conducted it and how was it conducted.
***Well, I, I, I hope that ugh, you know, I hope that it will be a good placement and that, that what ugh, the whole idea in my work is to try to find a placement that?s appropriate for the student so that the student can ugh, have some positive surroundings and get on with his education and also work out whatever problems he has, in the most supportive environment. And I hope that that?s going to work out that way for XXXX, I really do. But, I?ll be interested in what you find out along the way. If you get more information. And I think I will be calling Dr. Buchalante on Thursday, myself. So, ugh, thank you very much for calling and giving me this information.
Your welcome.
[ This Message was edited by: Deborah on 2006-03-15 14:57 ]
