The first concern of parents that are
worried about their child is one of safety.
Can you provide the support, structure,
and supervision for your child in order to best ensure their safety
and the safety of others? This includes a child who is prone
to hurt themselves, whether through impulsive actions or suicide,
or an aggressive child.
Reputable treatment centers are always
concerned in providing the least restrictive environment for helping
kids. Have you tried less restrictive interventions yet like outpatient
counseling or day treatment?
Ask for references. Facilities
will protect the confidentiality of their clients, but there are plenty
of other professionals around that can usually attest to the
reputation of a facility. This includes psychiatrists, psychologists,
therapists, and social workers who have knowledge of the agency.
Get all the written information you can
from the agency, including information about their discipline policies,
and what restrictions they may place on contact with the parents.
Some facilities may ask to limit contact with the parents the first
few weeks until your child is settled in. Others encourage
contact immediately.
Find out when and how your child could
contact you if they wanted to, especially if they are upset.
Tour the facility. Is it clean?
Do the staff and other residents look comfortable. Does the
facility give a "we are going to punish you" type of feeling,
or "we are here to help" type of feeling. Visit the
living quarters.
Talk to all the staff that you can.
You will always meet some sort of intake staff, but try to meet some
of the staff that will be working directly with your child for these
will have the most influence on them. Meet the receptionist,
because that is the person you will be talking to the most when you
call or visit.
Ask for written proof of the facility's
success rates with kids, as well as the average length of stay.
Look on the walls for proof of various
licenses and associations. Ask who is the monitoring government
body, and call them to see how they compare with other agencies.
Ask about the credentials of professional
staff and are clinicians licensed.
This is just a starting point of what
to look for in a facility, but it will open up many other doors to
find out if they can appropriately care and treat your child.
This varies for each agency.
Usually, the more treatment and structure provided, the more it costs.
Ask about the daily rate, or what the
agency charges each day the child is placed with them and if it includes
room, board, clothing, medication....
Many agencies have contracts with county
juvenile probation departments. If your child is on probation,
many times the probation department will pick up at least part of
the cost.
Check with your county mental health
agency. Sometimes they have funds available for placement.
Check with your school district.
Some (very few) will help provide the funds to pay for a placement.
Insurance can also be a resource, although
insurance usually will only pay for placement in a psychiatric hospital.
Often psychiatric hospitals are very expensive and only keep the child
for a few days, many times exhausting the insurance benefits.
This depends on the needs of your child.
A treatment facility should be able to give you a rough idea of how
long your child will need to be placed at the intake.
Ask this question before you place your
child. If the plan is for your child to return home, but you
live 300 miles away from the placement, it might be difficult to attend
family counseling on a weekly basis.
Ask about family counseling and what
documentation you will receive about your child's progress, and who
you should contact to get verbal reports about their progress.
Be wary of facilities that do not require
much family involvement. Your child needs to learn to be successful
in your home, not just the facility.
Find this out before you place your child.
Ask for a copy of each placements Discipline policies. You may
even give us an example of a behavior exhibited by your child
and ask us to give you an example of how we would respond to it.
