Freaking Fox Run

So picking up where I left off. Joseph was in the residential facility and our family was all separated. Joeys GAF score at admission 27. At the beginning I had truly believed that this facility was going to help Joseph. I was excited at the fact they were willing to accommodate the unique situation we had and work with our family. Looking back now and knowing what I know I would not have placed Joseph there. The facility housed 150 kids all with emotional and behavioral issues. I don’t care what anyone says about the amount of staff you have, there is no way to effectively work with these kids when you have so many of them. I would try and call every night to talk to Joseph but so many times we could not get through and when I did Joseph usually was sad and crying or angry.

Joseph had family sessions with me over the phone along with his counselor. I think his therapist did the best he could with Joseph but as time passed I could see little improvement in Joseph. I called several times to speak with the psychiatrist assigned to Joseph only to never get a return phone call. Weeks passed and the facility was doing everything the can within the first month to tell me he was going to be discharged soon.

Paul and I had already scheduled that at the end of May he would be flying into Arizona when we would than load up the moving truck and proceed to drive all of are stuff across country and move into our new home. We started driving on a Monday morning and the next day received a phone call from the facility stating that Joseph was going to be discharged as soon as we arrived in Ohio and could pick him up. The facility asked where we were in our trip and we explained we were in Texas, only Texas they said. I than informed them it was a 2000 mile trip and we were driving a 26 foot truck with everything we owned in it and it was going to take us a few days to get there.  They asked when we would be able to pick up Joey, I lied and said Friday, figuring that would give us enough time to get to Ohio and be able to unpack. I was very upset needless to say, not that I didn’t want Joey home with us but he had only been in the facility for 2 months when typical treatment is a minimum of 6 months. To top off all the mess the facility made virtually no follow up for Joseph when he transitioned home. Just prior to Joseph being discharged he had several violent outbursts. Joseph on one of those occasions attacked staff and other kids but the facility or should I say the insurance did not feel he met medical necessity.


Paul and I rushed to drive across country making the move in three days. We arrived on Wednesday and managed to unpack and put the house together by Friday so Joseph could just come home. It was very stressful to say the least. We had find therapy for Joseph and a summer program for him to attend since Paul would be working. No medications were ever changed and I never heard from a psychiatrist the whole time Joseph was there. I later found out why. After months of asking for Joeys records and never receiving them for one BS reason after another I got my hands on them. I never heard from a psychiatrist because Joey was never seen by one other than at intake. The ONLY note from a psychiatrist in his records was from admission. Can you believe it?! Joeys GAF score at discharge 47. Worst of all his discharge states " The patient was discharged due to lack of "medical necessity" with regards to residential treatment." The discharge summery goes on for 3 more pages to say that the patient continues to struggle with, has made minimal progress and continues to require intensive treatment and yet he didn't meet standards required. Sigh what a great system we have for these kids. 


When I picked Joseph up I was so thrilled to see him, hold him and hug him. He looked good, had lost weight and for the moment seemed happy. We enrolled him in a summer camp program and set him up with a out patient psychiatrist recommended by the facility. At this point all we could do was hope he would do ok and make it through the summer. I returned to AZ and left Joey with Paul who did an amazing job caring for him. Day by day passed and it looked as though Joey was finally stable.....