Sorry it's been so long....
When we last left off - Idiot Caseworker's Regional Manager basically gave me two options: 1) a Behavior Specialist who would take difficult child out into the community or 2) Nothing.
Honestly, I've been so darn fed up, I was ready to go with Option #2.
But after posting here and doing a lot of discussing with husband - we decided to give the Behavior Specialist a try.
Now, hang on to your hats - here's where it gets really ridiculous:
Idiot Caseworker could not assign a Behavior Spec until she knew what Ms Ally had worked on.
Ms Ally never filed any case notes with anyone....although Regional Manager claimed that Ms Ally sent a report to Medicaid indicating that difficult child was just find and no longer in need of services...but without those notes, nothing could happen.
Idiot Caseworker decided to call a meeting to figure out what should happen next. She said that the purpose of the meeting was to "establish treatment goals". She invited to the meeting our regular therapist, a Behavior Spec, Behavior Spec's Boss and Boss's Asst, her District Supervisor, Regional Manager plus us parents. Then, once she had us all in the room - she seemed to have no idea how to run a meeting.
So therapist basically confronted Idiot Caseworker by asking what had been done on this case so far. Caseworker said she had no idea what the treatment goals were. husband hollered that the treatment goals are the same as the ones we gave her Sept of last year, January of this year, and April of this year. Why does Caseworker not know the goals?
At first, caseworker gave us a brush-off answer - but then Regional Manager piped up...wondering what those goals were - since Caseworker had never relayed them? husband read off a list of all of our goals....and hearing how extensive it was...Regional Manager began to argue with Caseworker. Idiot Caseworker looked like she was gonna cry and tried to accuse me of never giving her any goals. therapist rose to my defense...and it was really getting ugly...
And then - miraculously - there were suddenly more services available! Idiot Caseworker said we qualified not only for the Behavior Specialist - but difficult child should have an Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) worker, too!
BUT - there would need to be a new meeting to establish treatment goals for Integrated Listening Systems (ILS).
A few of us questioned why couldn't we just establish those goals while we were sitting there? But no - we were told it would need to be a whole new meeting. Behavior Spec could start Sept 15....but Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) could not start until October 1st after a new meeting. OK - whatever.
Meeting over.
THEN I get a call from Ms Ally's Supervisor. therapist had filed a report that we, the parents, were unhappy with Ms Ally's services. So I filled her in on everything that happened. Supervisor seemed surprised. She said Ms Ally quit without notice - but she wasn't worried about us because Ms Ally had indicated that our case was "Resolved". I told her I was upset that that had been filed with Medicaid. Supervisor said that was impossible - Ms Ally does not have the ability to file reports with Medicaid. She accused Regional Manager of lying to me. OK - whatever.
THEN I get a call from Idiot Caseworker. There will be a delay in Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) services because it is going to take a while to determine the treatment goals. They won't be able to start for another few weeks because it would take a while to get goals approved.
What??? Didn't we already have this conversation? Nope. Idiot Caseworker needs to have a few more meetings to figure it out. OK - whatever.
Then I get a call from the Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) service - are we ready to start? I tell them Idiot Caseworker is still working on goals. Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) Svc is confused - they thought things were supposed to start by October 1st? Nope - Idiot Caseworker needs another meeting. So we have to wait until she figures that out...
And then....the most ridiculous of all...
I received an "Offical Notification Letter" yesterday from the state. I was being notified that there would be a change in our services since the last time a report had been filed and they were updating our status:
Our January 2011 Status : ______________(blank)____________________
was being changed to
Sept 15 2011 Status : ______________Beginning Behavior Services_______
Geesh! It's only been NINE MONTHS to go from nothing to something...
I wonder how long before we get a letter about Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) ? Ooops! Guess there's got to be a few more meetings....
AAARRGGGHHH!!! This is so far beyond ridiculous! I don't even know what to think any more!
When we last left off - Idiot Caseworker's Regional Manager basically gave me two options: 1) a Behavior Specialist who would take difficult child out into the community or 2) Nothing.
Honestly, I've been so darn fed up, I was ready to go with Option #2.
But after posting here and doing a lot of discussing with husband - we decided to give the Behavior Specialist a try.
Now, hang on to your hats - here's where it gets really ridiculous:
Idiot Caseworker could not assign a Behavior Spec until she knew what Ms Ally had worked on.
Ms Ally never filed any case notes with anyone....although Regional Manager claimed that Ms Ally sent a report to Medicaid indicating that difficult child was just find and no longer in need of services...but without those notes, nothing could happen.
Idiot Caseworker decided to call a meeting to figure out what should happen next. She said that the purpose of the meeting was to "establish treatment goals". She invited to the meeting our regular therapist, a Behavior Spec, Behavior Spec's Boss and Boss's Asst, her District Supervisor, Regional Manager plus us parents. Then, once she had us all in the room - she seemed to have no idea how to run a meeting.
So therapist basically confronted Idiot Caseworker by asking what had been done on this case so far. Caseworker said she had no idea what the treatment goals were. husband hollered that the treatment goals are the same as the ones we gave her Sept of last year, January of this year, and April of this year. Why does Caseworker not know the goals?
At first, caseworker gave us a brush-off answer - but then Regional Manager piped up...wondering what those goals were - since Caseworker had never relayed them? husband read off a list of all of our goals....and hearing how extensive it was...Regional Manager began to argue with Caseworker. Idiot Caseworker looked like she was gonna cry and tried to accuse me of never giving her any goals. therapist rose to my defense...and it was really getting ugly...
And then - miraculously - there were suddenly more services available! Idiot Caseworker said we qualified not only for the Behavior Specialist - but difficult child should have an Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) worker, too!
BUT - there would need to be a new meeting to establish treatment goals for Integrated Listening Systems (ILS).
A few of us questioned why couldn't we just establish those goals while we were sitting there? But no - we were told it would need to be a whole new meeting. Behavior Spec could start Sept 15....but Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) could not start until October 1st after a new meeting. OK - whatever.
Meeting over.
THEN I get a call from Ms Ally's Supervisor. therapist had filed a report that we, the parents, were unhappy with Ms Ally's services. So I filled her in on everything that happened. Supervisor seemed surprised. She said Ms Ally quit without notice - but she wasn't worried about us because Ms Ally had indicated that our case was "Resolved". I told her I was upset that that had been filed with Medicaid. Supervisor said that was impossible - Ms Ally does not have the ability to file reports with Medicaid. She accused Regional Manager of lying to me. OK - whatever.
THEN I get a call from Idiot Caseworker. There will be a delay in Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) services because it is going to take a while to determine the treatment goals. They won't be able to start for another few weeks because it would take a while to get goals approved.
What??? Didn't we already have this conversation? Nope. Idiot Caseworker needs to have a few more meetings to figure it out. OK - whatever.
Then I get a call from the Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) service - are we ready to start? I tell them Idiot Caseworker is still working on goals. Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) Svc is confused - they thought things were supposed to start by October 1st? Nope - Idiot Caseworker needs another meeting. So we have to wait until she figures that out...
And then....the most ridiculous of all...
I received an "Offical Notification Letter" yesterday from the state. I was being notified that there would be a change in our services since the last time a report had been filed and they were updating our status:
Our January 2011 Status : ______________(blank)____________________
was being changed to
Sept 15 2011 Status : ______________Beginning Behavior Services_______
Geesh! It's only been NINE MONTHS to go from nothing to something...
I wonder how long before we get a letter about Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) ? Ooops! Guess there's got to be a few more meetings....
AAARRGGGHHH!!! This is so far beyond ridiculous! I don't even know what to think any more!