Monster Child

Monster Child is a term I coined years ago when my daughter drives me nuts.

This has been a week of Monster Child antics.

Monday and Tuesday were not bad as we went to visit a residential treatment facility in Redding, CA. (four hour drive each way) The facility is a level 14 which means it runs about 5,000 a month. The non-public school that the facility works with is 186 a day or about 4092 a month. So if she is admitted, the school district, county mental health, county, medicaid, and private insurance will be shelling out close to 10,000 a month for her care. The goal of community based services is that they have to be able to function in the community upon discharge.

The facility consists of 10 homes spread out in the community of Redding. 6 homes are girls and 4 are boys. All clients are 11-17 years of age. They use more of a community based service plan then we have had in the past. Our past expierences have all been in institutional type settings with up to 100 kids living in 3 wings of one building.

The school is out in the boonies. They have a regular school with 12 classrooms. Each classroom is 12 students, 1 special education teacher, 2 aides, and 1 behavior interventionist for a 3:1 ratio. Each classroom has a class pet ie fish, hamster, etc.

They use several models including the Boystowns Skills Training. They also use the challenges course which has a rock wall, 2 rope courses (1 high and 1 low), and cardiac hill. They have a library, a computer lab, a greenhouse, a garden, a farm, etc. The farm has horses, goats, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. There were other programs they have incorporated into their program, but I don't recall the names.

Thursday was a day from hell. I got a call at work at 3:15 AM from my mom who has been staying here to help with my daughter. My daughter had left at 1 AM. Grandma wanted to know when to call her into as missing. I told her to call. The police brought her in at 5:30 Am after waking up atleast 4 families that I know of.

You would think that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. Thursday she ran 4 more times. She was calling strangers in the news paper, giving them directions to my home to bring her animals that she can't have, bringing stray animals into the house through bedroom windows, verbally abusive, throwing things, self-injuring, etc.

Then Friday she woke up nice, went to the doctors, went to school, stayed the whole day, earned 85 of 100 points at school, came home and started cleaning her bedroom. I was thrilled.

This morning I was like well maybe things are turning around... I went to WalMart to get some stuff and I see one of her friends in a sweatshirt I just bought 2 days ago. It is worth fifty bucks I was so livid. So then I am just struck with she gave away her mice the other day, and she was giving away things to a friend who was helping her clean the other day... old clothes, bracelets, etc.

So I get home, and in the last hour I have had like 4 people call about bringing dogs/cats/kittens to my home. Luckily I have intercepted them all.

So I sit here and my heart wants to keep her home but I know she can't be home because she isn't functioning in our home, her school, or the community.

It sucks.

She claims I hate her.

She doesn't know she is going to placement. But it is pretty much a done deal at this time.