OUR CHILDREN ::
Danny
In December, we received a call from a mother who was
very concerned about the lack of mental health treatment
that her son was receiving.
Her son, Danny, had been accused of sexually molesting
a younger cousin last March. In April, he was given
a sex offender/psychological evaluation. The psychologist
who completed the evaluation felt that Danny needed
a highly structured, well-supervised, long-term residential
treatment program with clinical staff specially trained
and skilled in the treatment of adolescent sex offenders.
Danny was referred to treatment in another state, because
no such program existed in North Carolina.
Until Danny could be placed in the Virginia treatment
center, his mother quit her job and stayed home with
him when he was not in school. Danny was never unsupervised.
Because Danny's mother was unable to pay for the costly
treatment, Area Mental Health was requested to fund
the treatment.
When the Council for Children’s Rights received
the referral in December, Danny was still at home,
had not been in any therapy to address his issues,
and the Area Mental Health Authority was denying payment
for the out of state treatment. Area Mental Health
planned to recommend creating services in the community,
although the necessary outpatient services were not
currently in place. Danny's advocate communicated with
the Area Mental Health Authority Director that it was
their responsibility to pay for the needed treatment
because the services were not adequate/available in
the community. One of our attorneys filed a motion
for review with the court. The Council advocated that
the judge order the Area Mental Health Authority to
pay for Danny's treatment. Finally, ten months after
treatment was recommended, the judge ordered Area Mental
Health to pay for the treatment, and Danny was given
the services he desperately needed. |
