Fighting for Answers | Author Archives | Page 62David's Father, Author at Fighting for Answers

Give him to the State!

So I repeatedly was told that the way it is typically done for kids to get mental health care is for the parents to give up custody to the state. The doctor said, “you should give up custody to the state if you don’t think that you can handle him.” I said no. There is more, but I have to process everything else that I was told before I go further here today. We are good parents, and this is what we are supposed to do to get him care. there is a huge flaw in the system of care if the only way to get him care is to turn him over to the state, or let him enter the legal system. A huge flaw. Tweet #fighting4answrs

David is conning them.

David is coming home today. Yesterday he shared that he was thinking about killing himself. Today he denied telling me that. Today he is coming home. I expressed my frustration as kindly as I could to the social worker. She claims to understand. But does she? Does she understand what it is to fear becoming a statistic in the news at the hands of a child? Does she understand that we are afraid? That we are concerned about the safety of not just mom and I, but the other kids in our home? She made some recommendations. We should call the Sheriff any time we don’t feel safe. We should call Child Protective Services and see if they can help. (this means giving up custody) I promised David we would never give up. She then said that we need to utilize the safe bed before we even consider bringing him

Are you serious?

These are the steps that we go through to get admission to the mental health unit for David. Drive 50 miles one way. Present to reception desk staff. Present history and current case to intake ER Nurse. Wait for 1 – 2 hours. Present case to ER nurse. Wait for up to an hour. Present case to Doctor and intake note taker person. Wait for labs Wait for him to pee in a cup. Explain to lab personnel why they need to use a butterfly needle on my son. Wait in ER for consult from on-call psychiatrist. If approval for admission is granted we wait for ambulance for transport to the building where the unit is located. If denied we go home. Wait some more. Follow ambulance to the unit. Wait for admission Nurse to bring out additional paperwork. Explain case to admission Nurse. Write down concerns, thoughts, issues, medications,