Long road ahead
Today was filled with phone calls and an abundance of information. We are overwhelmed with choices.
The day started with a call to the social worker at the facility in Pensacola. For the first time in the past few weeks, I felt like we were being heard. The social worker said that she had not heard from DCF regarding the accusations made by my daughter. She also said that the doctor recommended a Residential Care Facility due to the fact that our daughter continued to make threats that she would harm herself if she returned home. I told the social worker that our number one choice would be for our daughter to go to a faith-based facility. She said that she would contact Teen Challenge Girls Academy. I also requested that she have the doctor call us today to get an update from him.
We were finally able to get in contact with Teen Challenge. After doing a phone interview with the admissions director, she determined that our daughter was not a good candidate for their facility. This was due to the fact that our daughter was currently on medication and that she suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The director also told us that the cost for residential care was between $6k-$10k per month! She also referred us to a Resource Consultant who specializes in helping families find residential care.
We finally received a call from the psychiatrist, who had just met with our daughter. He told us that she still stated that she would harm herself if she had to come home. He said that it was not safe for her to come home and reiterated that a residential care facility was the best option for her. He said she continued to be sarcastic and disrespectful to staff, but that her overall behavior had improved some. He advised us to continue conversations with the social worker to find a suitable facility.
After speaking with the doctor, we received a call from the Resource Consultant. She had us provide a brief overview of the situation. She said that most of the good residential facilities cost around $10k per month. She said that based on our daughters FAS and current mental health issues she should get an Individual Education Plan. This would open up additional funding resources to help us provide the care she needs. She also advised is to begin the process of Extended Guardianship and said it is better to obtain this sooner than later, in the event that her treatment is ongoing and we need to make decisions for her after she turns 18. We were given a link to directory of COPAA attorneys to help us with this process and also received a list of facilities to research in the Southeast.
We are a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information we received today and the cost of the treatment our daughter needs. We were told that we have a long road ahead of us, but we are trusting God to guide us in making the best decisions to help our daughter so that she can return home to us happy and healthy.
Lord, thank you for helping open the lines of communication today. We thank you for putting us in contact with people who genuinely care for what we are going through. Lord, help our daughter receive the care that she needs and help us as her parents make the right choices. Lord, we trust that you will work things out financially on our behalf. As we go to bed tonight Lord, we sleep in peace knowing you are in full control of this season of our lives. Thank you for your unconditional love. In Jesus name, Amen.