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General Residential Treatment Center (RTC) questions...
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<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 192081" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>what services are offered, what insurances are taken, and what problems they will treat varies widely from one place to the next.</p><p> </p><p>The first time Wiz went to a hospital it was for 4 months. Even though we had to justify his stay every week or 2, it really was more of an Residential Treatment Center (RTC) setting, in my opinion.</p><p> </p><p>I was amazed at how easy the process was to get him admitted. I called the number on his Soonercare (state children's insurance for kids who don't have private insurance) card and told the behavioral people what was going on. I had to talk to 3 people, each one more horrified than the next at what he was doing. They authorized a 2 weeks stay then and there, and gave me a choice of 3 places. One was out of state and we wouldn't have been able to participate in family therapy weekly. One offered little inthe way of treatment, but warehoused violent kids. The one I chose was a psychiatric hospital with a locked facility (kids who tried to run were given an ankle bracelet that triggered an alarm if they crossed certain boundaries - this was in addition to the locked doors that only staff could open). They had a psychiatrist who saw kids every week, but didn't want to talk to parents (and DID talk to me because I cornered him during a treatment staffing session). This wasn't as "nice" or fancy as the other places. They did offer healthy meals, school work on Wiz' level - once they figured it out, group therapy for all kids, special groups for sex offenders (which he was starting to be - and this nipped it in the bud!), weekly family therapy, 3 or 4 days a week had visiting hours, and overall the staff was amazing.</p><p> </p><p>The psychiatric hospital did have things like cassette recorders for books on tape that were broken, or had no batteries, a strong need for new books for the kids, etc.... We donated some walkmans we were not using (some that had been taken from students of my dads and not claimed), several packs of batteries, and every time I weeded my kids' books I gave the hospital first pick before I gave them away. We wanted to support the staff in every way we oculd, because they were helping us so very much.</p><p> </p><p>Wiz was there for 4 months. The first 6 weeks he honeymooned (set a record for longest honeymoon at the psychiatric hospital - what an accomplishment, ya think?) and they wanted to send him home. I went in and pushed his "buttons" and he exploded. That is when the real healing and growth started.</p><p> </p><p>About a year after Wiz' release he started back down that road. We had private insurance by then. And we couldn't find ANYPLACE that would take him -and he was too old for the program he had been in before! I got lists from the resource officer at his school - most said he would have to be placed by the courts, or else he was too old or too young. Or too violent. We ended up having him live iwth my parents. BUT I did find a wealth of placements through the churches in our town. I started with our reverend, and went through his contacts to their contacts, and had quite a list. I strongly recommend that as a way to find help. AND ask the resource officer (cop) assigned the the jr highs, middle schools, and high schools in your community.</p><p> </p><p>I hope this gave you some info.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 192081, member: 1233"] what services are offered, what insurances are taken, and what problems they will treat varies widely from one place to the next. The first time Wiz went to a hospital it was for 4 months. Even though we had to justify his stay every week or 2, it really was more of an Residential Treatment Center (RTC) setting, in my opinion. I was amazed at how easy the process was to get him admitted. I called the number on his Soonercare (state children's insurance for kids who don't have private insurance) card and told the behavioral people what was going on. I had to talk to 3 people, each one more horrified than the next at what he was doing. They authorized a 2 weeks stay then and there, and gave me a choice of 3 places. One was out of state and we wouldn't have been able to participate in family therapy weekly. One offered little inthe way of treatment, but warehoused violent kids. The one I chose was a psychiatric hospital with a locked facility (kids who tried to run were given an ankle bracelet that triggered an alarm if they crossed certain boundaries - this was in addition to the locked doors that only staff could open). They had a psychiatrist who saw kids every week, but didn't want to talk to parents (and DID talk to me because I cornered him during a treatment staffing session). This wasn't as "nice" or fancy as the other places. They did offer healthy meals, school work on Wiz' level - once they figured it out, group therapy for all kids, special groups for sex offenders (which he was starting to be - and this nipped it in the bud!), weekly family therapy, 3 or 4 days a week had visiting hours, and overall the staff was amazing. The psychiatric hospital did have things like cassette recorders for books on tape that were broken, or had no batteries, a strong need for new books for the kids, etc.... We donated some walkmans we were not using (some that had been taken from students of my dads and not claimed), several packs of batteries, and every time I weeded my kids' books I gave the hospital first pick before I gave them away. We wanted to support the staff in every way we oculd, because they were helping us so very much. Wiz was there for 4 months. The first 6 weeks he honeymooned (set a record for longest honeymoon at the psychiatric hospital - what an accomplishment, ya think?) and they wanted to send him home. I went in and pushed his "buttons" and he exploded. That is when the real healing and growth started. About a year after Wiz' release he started back down that road. We had private insurance by then. And we couldn't find ANYPLACE that would take him -and he was too old for the program he had been in before! I got lists from the resource officer at his school - most said he would have to be placed by the courts, or else he was too old or too young. Or too violent. We ended up having him live iwth my parents. BUT I did find a wealth of placements through the churches in our town. I started with our reverend, and went through his contacts to their contacts, and had quite a list. I strongly recommend that as a way to find help. AND ask the resource officer (cop) assigned the the jr highs, middle schools, and high schools in your community. I hope this gave you some info. [/QUOTE]
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