I'll do my best to make this as brief as possible.
My son has been in Treatment Foster Care since July 2015. Initially it was due to trauma from an ex-boyfriend and now it's shifted into being about his behaviors. Since he was about 4 he has been exhibiting what I figured were normal behaviors for a child but as he's aged, they've gotten worse. He is consistently lying, stealing, being harmful to cats and he has no remorse about it, if you ask him why he did it he will flat out tell you he doesn't know, he's damaged property. Textbook CD, right? From what I'm reading any ways. He was diagnosed with ADHD/ODD in 2012, he is very behind in school, he doesn't connect the dots between his behaviors and consequences. I've tried every 'normal' consequence that a parent typically goes to and none of them have worked.
Since he is still in the custody of CPS, they want to toss him into Residential Treatment Care. This absolutely terrifies me. He was scheduled to come home to me in June but if he goes into Residential Treatment Center (RTC), who knows when I'll get my child back? I am beyond scared right now and so many things are going through my mind.
Will he hate me?
Will he think I've abandoned him?
What if doing this ultimately doesn't work and he ends up in jail after all?
I was all set to have him come home to me because that's all I want, my family back together. I'll get to see him, have phone calls and such so it's not too different from what I'm dealing with now but the thought of him being in a facility at 9 years old makes me cringe! I view it as a prison, not a place to help. I think it's going to be all punishment, no rewards. And it's not like I'm being given a choice. He's in their custody, not mine and if I tell them I don't want him to go, they'll probably terminate my parental rights because that's what CPS does.
Heaven knows what this will do to my child's mentality. And if he gets bullied I swear I'll lose my mind more than I already have. I feel absolutely helpless.
This wasn't brief, I'm sorry.
-Mary
My son has been in Treatment Foster Care since July 2015. Initially it was due to trauma from an ex-boyfriend and now it's shifted into being about his behaviors. Since he was about 4 he has been exhibiting what I figured were normal behaviors for a child but as he's aged, they've gotten worse. He is consistently lying, stealing, being harmful to cats and he has no remorse about it, if you ask him why he did it he will flat out tell you he doesn't know, he's damaged property. Textbook CD, right? From what I'm reading any ways. He was diagnosed with ADHD/ODD in 2012, he is very behind in school, he doesn't connect the dots between his behaviors and consequences. I've tried every 'normal' consequence that a parent typically goes to and none of them have worked.
Since he is still in the custody of CPS, they want to toss him into Residential Treatment Care. This absolutely terrifies me. He was scheduled to come home to me in June but if he goes into Residential Treatment Center (RTC), who knows when I'll get my child back? I am beyond scared right now and so many things are going through my mind.
Will he hate me?
Will he think I've abandoned him?
What if doing this ultimately doesn't work and he ends up in jail after all?
I was all set to have him come home to me because that's all I want, my family back together. I'll get to see him, have phone calls and such so it's not too different from what I'm dealing with now but the thought of him being in a facility at 9 years old makes me cringe! I view it as a prison, not a place to help. I think it's going to be all punishment, no rewards. And it's not like I'm being given a choice. He's in their custody, not mine and if I tell them I don't want him to go, they'll probably terminate my parental rights because that's what CPS does.
Heaven knows what this will do to my child's mentality. And if he gets bullied I swear I'll lose my mind more than I already have. I feel absolutely helpless.
This wasn't brief, I'm sorry.
-Mary