prayers and CHINS

[Liahona]

Hi all, difficult child 1 has been doing awesome lately. Yes, he has had a few less than wonderful moments, but over all is great. He left today for 3 weeks to go to x's. There is a very good chance he is not going to be the same kid that comes back. Would you pray for him please?

Also some people in our county mental health want to know how to get people services who don't have insurance or medicaid. I was thinking of the CHINs program some of the states have but Utah doesn't. Could someone please tell me the good, bad, and everything in between about your experience with this program? Also, if you have any ideas on how to get someone services that don't have insurance than please tell me.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Also some people in our county mental health want to know how to get people services who don't have insurance or medicaid

OK, so I'm in Canada where we all - at least officially - have insurance.
But not everyone has "access" - same outcome as not having insurance.

One of the ways they "solve" that here, is to have "teaching clinics" that work out of under-serviced areas. Most of the staff are upper-years students in health-care fields (BSN, medical doctors in training, Occupational Therapist (OT), PT, etc.), with oversight by qualified practitioners who are also the "teachers" for the students. The schools pay for the clinics - physical space, equipment, supplies - because there is no better training than real life experience. ANYONE can go there for services, whether you live in the area or not. It becomes self-restricting, though, because by being set up in less-desirable areas (smaller towns, or lower-income neighborhoods), the only people who show up are those who are having trouble getting help through normal channels.

 

[Hound dog]

County Mental Health is often a good place to start to look for services for someone without insurance. If they don't provide such services themselves (rare), they usually have a good idea who does. These are services that fees are based on income, so that even someone with very little income or no income can seek out services.

They can also just call around to docs and ask if they have an income rate for folks without insurance. You'll be surprised that many actually do. My old psychiatrist did...... no insurance = 10.00 visit fee.......he could care less your income as he assumed it wasn't that great if you had no insurance. He also bent over backward to get you the scripts you needed. If he couldn't script something from the 4.00 lists of pharmacies......he would try to keep you in supply of free samples.

There is also usually a low cost state run prescription program. I forget how to find it now. But the hospital actually signed Fred up for it. (it's not just for mental health) It was to help him to pay for the heart medications that were outrageously priced. We still paid some but it was no where what we'd normally pay out. You could probably do an internet search for your state and find the program that way.

Keeping difficult child 1 in my prayers that he does well at ex's and comes back the same as he left so he can continue to do better.

((hugs))

 

[TeDo]

In our county, the CHINS program works to get children services but it also has it's risks. The way it works here is that a social worker/case manager arranges and authorizes the services THEY see as being needed. Yea, they meet with you and talk about what is needed but if they disagree with anything you think is necessary, they don't approve or pay for it. I had a social worker where we both agreed I needed respite. Her idea of respite was a short-term bed in a long term mental health detention center an hour away from home and mine was one of a few respite homes here in town. I said no way so the result was that I got no respite. The one thing that was my saving grace was that, unlike CPS, I can "fire" them at any time, which we did end up doing. When her opinions of his behavior being intentional got in the way and she started criticizing me for not treating him the way she thought I should, it was time to go without services rather than having to deal with that. This was at the time when he ended up in the psychiatric hospital because of the Prozac and she refused to believe that was the cause even when it was discontinued and things got MUCH better. She had her own preconceived ideas and nothing was going to change her mind.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, at least here, it all depends on the county's financial condition so they don't have to prioritize or "cheap down" AND the open-mindedness of the social workers. Those are the two things that rule what is and isn't approved and paid for.

 

[TerryJ2]

In our area, CHINS is usually used by kids already in the system because of abuse or neglect. You could call and find out if you can self-report because of a spec. needs child but I have a feeling it won't work.
I will definitely be thinking about difficult child 1. Best of luck!

 

[BusynMember]

You definitely have my prayers.

We've had good luck with our county mental health services. They were the ones who could get the supports and help. Sliding scale stuff...very reasonable. Free to some.

 

[SuZir]

I have absolutely no information about CHINS, but I will definitely add your son to my prayer list.

 

[Liahona]

Thank you guys. I will pass along the info. And thank you for the prayers.

 

[susiestar]

For medications if you have an rx already, you can go to the pharmaceutical companies and download forms to be in their patient assistance programs, or go to needymeds.org and they will have the forms and help filling them out if needed. These are for medications that are NOT on the cheap medications list at Walmart and other pharmacies. Here we have a local chain that does most of the WM list at $3 per month, which makes ti even cheaper than the $10 for 3 months that some places offer.

Call around to the doctors and the county health department. Also contact the various churches in the area. Some have members that will see people for free as part of a church ministry and very few of these insist you attend their church or believe as they believe. The Catholic and Jewish Churches are esp great at providing medical care and psychiatric care for free. The psychological care (tdocs) do tend to have a more religious angle to their help, but for free you can tolerate a bit, in my opinion. In Utah I would ask what the Mormon Church offers as from what I have heard they can be incredibly generous. My mom has a childhood friend who married into the Mormon faith and some of their family members and friends are doctors and donate up to thirty hours a week on top of their regular for pay practices to help those with-o insurance. Some do this through their reg offices and others through various clinics.

Other ways to get help with medications are to use various pharmacy discount cards that are for those with no insurance. You can usually find these for free online or through varous groups that provide discount medical care or urgent care. Our urgent care clinics always have at least 2 different discount pharmacy cards that are free. Around here the gas and electric companies also have these discount cards and you can get them in their offices or through links on their websites.

For other care, they should go and apply at the dept of human services (DHS) office in their area. They may or may not qualify for medicaid for the adults, but for kids the income level limits are VERY generous, at least here.

 

[DDD]

GFGmom had a friend with three dysfunctional children and she relocated from Florida to Utah because the Mormon group she contacted assured her of full medical support. To the best of my knowledge they kept their word. After a year or two, however, she returned to Florida as life was just too different in Utah. DDD