Urgghhh.... any idea what brought all this on? I like the idea of you and the young ones not visiting, but husband still going.
My guess is that without a firm discharge date, she can't fake it anymore. husband's guess is that there are more girls there than last year and she has to have a roommate and they have made the rules stricter since the suicide so that's bugging her. therapist's guess is a sexual attraction to a girl that is doing all these things.
Moving to a locked ward is probably going to happen, but it doesn't mean she won't run again. It is just more of a challenge from a locked ward.
J,
Is Kanga in a locked facility? How does her running affect her stay if she isn't? I ask because (two fold) 1. To prepare you for potential move to a locked facility if it is not because most places will not deal with runaways as the risk is too high for possible hazard to the child. 2.) If she is then this puts her at a different level and wondered how they intend on dealing with it where she is.
Kanga is not in a locked facility. This Residential Treatment Center (RTC) has multiple sites including a locked facility. Kanga's Residential Treatment Center (RTC) is in the middle of nowhere. She has to run about 2 miles to get to the nearest house and about 10 miles to get to any shops, etc. They do keep runners. They said that they only look at transferring runners to the locked site if they runaway overnight repeatedly or if the parents request it. Kanga never left the grounds of the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) so they don't consider it a 'full run'.
Hopefully they will at LEAST keep her shoes locked up. It is hard to run away in the cold if you have no shoes.
Shoes and coats are locked up. It was about 35-40 degrees where she is and she ran in her slippers. I think that was a key factor in her returning
I agree it's a good idea to keep the other kiddos home. They don't need to risk it.
I'm glad husband is still going to visit her. She needs some contact with family. I'm hoping Residential Treatment Center (RTC) will accept one from you then one from husband until a new plan is made.
Take care, lady.
Our current plan was a visit every other week with a Dad-Family-Mom-Family pattern. Yes, we didn't want to cancel everyone because she's been abandoned enough in her young life. But it is definitely too risky for the little ones.
I hope now they go back and re-read all those notes where you told them this is how she is...and they react appropriately.
Hugs.
This must be so hard for you--but at the same time, you must also feel "justified" in some way now that "your" Kanga, the girl you have lived with and tried to help all this time, is showing her true face.
Yes, they are definitely getting to experience ‘our Kanga'.
Sending many hugs. Hopefully staff will have a better picture of Kanga, and can do more to help her.
Sending gentle hugs your way. I agree it's good they are seeing this side of Kanga. I'm sorry things are so difficult right now.
There are some staff that had minimal contact with her that she had completely fooled with her good girl routine that I am sure they are shocked.
therapist called back and the clinical staff has officially suspended sibling visits until further notice. She also said that Kanga has been informed of that decision.
Kanga is still being non-compliant and has refuse to complete her crisis workbook (a special packet where the girls have to work through what happened, why it happened and how they think they can prevent it from happening again). She didn't call me tonight. I'm not sure if she called husband as he was sleeping when I got home. I'm not sure if she's allowed to call us until she completes the workbook. I'll have to check with therapist tomorrow.
While I hate that she is still so sick, I'm so grateful she is there and not here. I can't handle doing one more restraint " ever.