Juvie Out - Thinkkids.org in

klmno

Active Member
This statement is pretty typical of doctors - give medication and treat the symptons with behavior modification - reward , punishment and consequences

My computer won't let me open that link right now so I didn't read the article yet. But regarding this statement- this is EXACTLY what I have been fighting the sd and legal people and a few tdocs over for almost 4 years now. I think it boils down to this- no matter what they say, they really don't view mental illness as illness that needs to be treated- they view it as a behavior problem. I think that view gets reinforced by subtle messagees in our society- like calling it "behavioral health"- which leads many to think it's "behavior" oriented and the "health" part is just a sugar-coating for the parties involved

People don't usually treat a diabetic who's insulin levels are out of whack so becomes very moody, unable to function, etc, as a "behavior problem" who can change if motivated or punished enough.
 

flutterby

Fly away!
Thank you for sharing that article and link to thinkkids.org.

It's devastating what happens to these kids. difficult child 2 has been lucky in that he was sent to an Residential Treatment Center (RTC) rather than juvie. However, the system failed him when he was released, a lot of time passed before information was given to the appropriate people, and a period of several months passed before treatment for his mental illess could continue. And he is now facing the risk of juvie again. I believe his court hearing is this week.

Jails and Juvenile Detention Centers are not the place to treat the mentally ill. Everyone acknowledges it is at a crisis level, but not only is nothing done to change the situation, budget cuts force it to continue and increase.

Society forgets these kids/adults. Or they aren't educated and see the problems as behavioral. It is up to us - those with a loved one with a mental illness in or out of the justice system - to demand change.
 

klmno

Active Member
I just read the article. I will say that my 14yo son appears to be in a better place than that. Our governor closed our phosps - all of them for children/adolescents - saying more money wiould be added to dept. of corrections for mental health care. But what they aren't considering is that the out-patient tdocs for kids are not good, the probation officers are completely clueless, then when the kid gets put into state Department of Juvenile Justice "because its the best care we have for ill or disturbed kids with legal offenses", the kid then has a juvenile criminal record (those with felonies do NOT get expunged in this state) in addition to the stigma of mental illness to battle the rest of their life, only to be released to go right back to "community supports" which consists of more monitoring and behavior mod by people who know nothing about how to treat the mental illness.

thanks allen for posting this- it prettty much sums up difficult child's life.
 

Christy

New Member
Thanks for sharing this article. It's truly heartbreaking to think that this is the best we have to offer our mentally ill youth.
 
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